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OUR  OWN  CHURCH 


JOHN    H.   VINCENT 

Bishop  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


NEW  YORK:  HUNT  &>  EA  TON 
CINCINNA  TI:  CRANSTON  &>  STOWE 


Copyright,  1890,  by 

HUNT    &    EATON 

New  York. 


PREFATORY. 


rpHE  words  which  fill  the  pages  of  this  little  volume  are  for 
-■"  young  Christians — for  young  Methodist  Episcopal  Chris- 
tians— and  have  been  written  to  promote  among  them  a 
thoughtful  and  lively  and  growing  interest  in  their  own  Church, 
its  history,  doctrines,  government,  polity,  and  usages. 

We  want  a  Church  made  up  of  Christlike  and  loyal  Chris- 
tians, who  first  of  all  love  and  worship  and  serve  Christ;  who 
at  the  same  time  truly  love  all  who  love  Christ,  whatever  their 
denominational  lines,  and  who  also  love  well,  loyally,  and 
always  their  own  denomination,  and  stand  by  it  and  stand  up 
for  it ;  being  true  to  it  when  it  is  popular,  and  just  as  true 
when,  for  any  reason,  it  does  not  meet  the  favor  of  the  mul- 
titude. 

Young  Methodist  Episcopalians  must  be  broad,  liberal,  gen- 
erous, and  catholic-spirited,  while  they  are  firm,  fervent,  steady, 
and  uncompromising  in  their  devotion  to  the  Church  they 
belong  to — the  Church  which,  to  be  at  its  best,  must  as  fully 
as  possible  reproduce  the  doctrines,  spirit,  usages,  and  conduct 
of  the  Church  of  the  first  century.  A  Methodist  should  aim 
to  be  a  "  first  century  Christian "  in  this  period  of  history 
which  witnesses  the  closing  of  the  nineteenth  and  the  opening 
of  the  twentieth  Christian  century. 

John  H.  Yincent. 
Episcopal  Residence, 
Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  3Iarch  21,  1890. 


OUR   OWN    CHURCH. 


I. 

THE  HOLY  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 

''  I  believe  in  the  Holj  Catholic  Church,  the  Communion  of 
Saints." — Apostles'  Creed. 

HEEE  are  words  of  greeting,  welcome,  and 
counsel  to  the  candidate  for  membership 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ! 

You  have  "  joined  the  Church."  You  are 
now  a  "  probationer."  In  six  months,  if  you 
and  the  Church  agree,  you  may  become  a  "  full 
member."  By  a  gradual  process  you  thus  ap- 
proach that  great  and  divine  institution — the 
Church — which  God,  who  made  the  earth  and 
the  heavens,  established  ;  the  Church — com- 
posed of  souls  redeemed  by  the  precious  blood 
of  Christ ;  the  Church — which  begun  in  the 
early  days  of  the  race  and  has  continued  through 
all  the  ages;  the  Church— the  "house  of  the 


6  OuK  Own  Chukch. 

living  God,"  wliicli  lie  built  and  blesses,  and 
where  he  abides  :  the  CnrKCH — "  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth,"  upholding,  proclaiming, 
distributing,  defending,  and  administering  that 
truth  for  the  good  of  men  and  the  glory  of  God. 

You  have  joined  the  "Holy  Catholic  Church." 
In  the  Creed  you  professed  at  "your  baptism  you 
say :  "  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church." 
Remember,  this  is  not  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  It  is  the  "Holy  Catholic  Church." 
And  there  is  a  vast  difference  between  the 
two — all  the  difference  that  there  is  between 
a  gayly  decorated  Christmas-tree  and  the  old 
oak  that  grows  by  the  way-side,  deep-rooted, 
wide-spreading;  giving  shade  in  the  summer; 
holding  a  heart  of  life  in  the  winter  that  no 
frosts  can  destroy;  with  nesting-nooks  for  birds, 
and  perches  for  their  hours  of  song;  the  old  oak 
that  takes  firm  hold  of  the  soil  and  that  sw^eepa 
the  heavens ;  the  oak  with  dew  and  song  and 
sunshine  on  it,  with  memories  of  the  long  ago, 
and  with  promise  for  the  centuries  to  come. 

Never  let  the  gewgaws  and  glimmer  and 
sweets  of  the  Christmas-tree  delude  you.    There 


The  Holy  Catholic  Church.  7 

may  be,  indeed,  beautiful  green  leaves  on  it. 
The  life  has  not  all  gone ;  but  its  doom  is  cer- 
tain. The  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  a  relic  of 
paganism  and  of  tyranny,  with  some  good  doc- 
trine in  it,  but  so  overloaded  with  tissue-paper 
and  candles  and  glass  baubles  that  one  who  knovrs 
what  the  living  tree  is  grows  tired  of  the  dead, 
and  longs  for  the  life  and  strength  and  beauty 
of  the  grand  old  oak  of  the  ages — "the  Holy 
Catholic  Church,"  where  are  blossom  and  shade 
and  fruit  and  blessing. 

The  Holy  Catholic  Church  embraces  every 
thing  that  is  "  true  "  in  all  the  ages  of  Christian 
history,  in  all  the  phases  of  Christian  worship, 
in  all  the  schemes  of  Christian  theology,  in  all 
the  plans  of  Christian  work. 

The  Holy  Catholic  Church  embraces  all  the 
truly  good  Christians  of  all  ages,  of  all  the 
schools,  of  all  the  nations,  and  of  all  the  denom- 
inations. The  real  martyrs  of  the  early  centuries 
in  Rome,  Asia,  and  Egypt ;  the  true  preachers, 
and  the  so-called  "priests"  of  the  Roman  and 
of  the  Greek  Churches,  who  sincerely  served 
God  ;    the   faithful   few   in   the   household  of 


8  Our  Own  Chukch. 

Caesar,  among  the  valleys  of  Switzerland,  in  tlie 
monasteries  of  England,  or  in  the  mountains  of 
Scotland;  the  honest  servants  of  Jesus  Christ 
among  all  the  numberless  "  communions  " — the 
Presbyterians,  the  Protestant  Episcopalians,  the 
Pomanists,  the  Greek  Catholics,  the  Peformed 
Churches,  the  Baptists,  the  Methodists  of  all 
classes — these,  and  all  who  every-where  else,  in 
the  best  way  they  can,  worship  God  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,  are  members  of  the  Holy  Cath- 
olic Church.  The  patriarchs  and  the  prophets 
of  the  Old  Testament,  the  apostles  and  saints  of 
the  ]^ew,  the  real  saints  of  the  early  and  the 
middle  and  the  later  ages,  the  Augustines  and 
the  San  Bernards  and  Savonarolas,  and  the  Cal- 
vins  and  Luthers,  the  Knoxes  and  Wesleys — 
these,  all  of  them,  were  members  of  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church. 

And  beyond,  in  the  realm  above,  where  apos- 
tles and  martyrs  are,  where  Jesus  is  made  mani- 
fest and  his  people  serve  him,  where  "mother" 
is,  and  dear  old  "father"  and  the  "children," 
where  "  before  the  throne  they  serve  their 
Maker  day  and  night,"  and  sing  halleluiahs — 


The  Holy  Catholic  Church.  9 

there,  too,  is  a  part  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church 
of  which  you  are  now  a  member. 

Glorious  body  of  Christ !  strong  and  true ;  apos- 
tolic and  universal ;  full  of  charity  and  good-will ; 
resplendent  in  liistory  with  deeds  of  heroes  who 
counted  not  their  lives  dear  unto  them  so  that 
they  might  win  Christ ;  radiant  with  the  glory  of 
his  presence  who  dwells  among  liis  jDcople,  giving 
them  peace  and  filling  their  hearts  with  love. 

Into  this  noble  fellowship  you  have  come, 
for  in  joining  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
you  join  a  branch  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church 
which  recognizes  the  whole  body  of  Christ,  and 
seeks  to  bless  and  help  all,  and  enjoys  commun- 
ion and  fellowship  with  all. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  has  no 
"  canons  "  which  exclude  true  ministers  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  other  Churches  from  its  pulpits.  It 
has  no  dogma  of  "  apostolic  succession "  which 
limits  the  privileges  of  the  ministry  to  a  small 
and  exclusive  class.  It  has  no  ^'regulations" 
which  render  it  impossible  or  difiicult  to  frater- 
nize in  Church  service  and  Church  work  with 
other  Christians.  Its  members  belong  to  the  Holy 


10  Our  Own  Church. 

Catholio  Church — the  broad,  large,  full,  liberal, 
great-hearted  Church  that  Christ  established. 

Take  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  in  con- 
trast— a  Church  organized  after  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  with  a  much  smaller 
membership ;  a  branch  of  the  Church  in  which 
there  are,  indeed,  devout  and  faithful  Christians. 
But,  with  singular  pretentiousness,  it  claims  to 
be  the  Church.  Its  canons  refuse  to  allow  cler- 
gymen of  other  denominations  in  its  pulpits.  It 
gives  instructions  to  its  young  people  which  cul- 
tivate in  them  a  spirit  of  exclusiveness  which  we 
believe  to  be  opposed  to  the  teachings  of  our 
Lord.  I  do  not  impeach  the  perfect  sincerity  of 
those  who  thus  believe  and  teach,  but  I  depre- 
cate it. 

Read,  for  example,  the  following  questions 
and  answers  taken  from  the  Catechism  prepared 
by  Dr.  Morgan  Dix,  of  ]S'ew  York,  of  Trinity 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church.  These  will  give 
you  a  specimen  of  the  teachings  of  that  com- 
munion. True,  there  are  men  and  women  in 
the  Church  who  do  not  accept  these  extreme 
views ;  but  they  submit  to  them,  and  dare  not 


The  Holy  Catholic  Church.  11 

call  the  rector  to  an  account ;  and,  moreover, 
they  obey  the  canons  which  embody  the  spirit  of 
the  Trinity  Catechism,  and  do  not  even  seek  to 
repeal  them.  They  live  b}^  them,  even  if  they 
do  not  believe  them. 

Question.  Does  it,  then,  make  no  difference  if  we 
belong  to  some  independent  Cliurch  or  sect,  and  not 
to  a  true  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church  ? 

Ansicer.  It  makes  all  the  difference  between  obey- 
ing and  disobejing  Christ. 

Q.  What  is  necessary  to  make  any  particular  Church 
a  true  branch  of  the  Catholic  Church  ? 

A.  It  must  hold  to  the  Creed  of  the  Church,  to 
the  Apostolic  Ministry,  and  to  the  Apostolic  Sacra- 
ments. 

Q.  Is  it,  then,  enough  to  keep  only  the  doctrine  of 
the  apostles  ? 

A.    No;  we  must  be  also  of  the  apostolic /<?Z?o?rsAip. 

Q.    How  do  we  stay  in  the  apostolic  fellowship  ? 

A.  By  staying  in  the  fellovvshijD  of  the  bishops, 
their  successors. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

Q.    By  whom,  then,  were  sects  founded  ? 

A.    By  erring  men  ;  not  by  Jesus  Christ. 

In  contrast  with  the  Dix-Trinity  Catechism, 
I  quote  from  a  little  Catecliism  j^ublished  by 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  House,  showing  how 
much  broader  our  own  dear  Church  is  in  its 
views  concerning  the  other  branches  of  the 
Church  of  Christ: 


12  OuK  Own  Church. 

Question.  Is  there  more  than  one  true  Church  of 
Jesus  Christ  ? 

Anstcer.  There  is  but  one  true  Church. 

Q.  Who  belong  to  it  ? 

A.  All  who  believe  in  and  love  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.     These  constitute  the  Holy  Catholic  Church. 

Q.  What  does  Paul  call  it  ? 

A.  "The  whole  family  in  heaven  and  earth." 
Eph.  iii,  15. 

Q.  Has  this  one  true  Church  more  than  one  out- 
ward form  ? 

A.  It  has  many  outward  forms,  usually  called  "  de- 
nominations," such  as  the  Baptist  Church,  the  Con- 
gregational Church,  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  the  Reformed  Episcopal  Church,  and  many 
others. 

Q.  With  which  denomination  or  branch  of  the  one 
Church  of  Christ  are  we  connected  ? 

A.  With  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Let  us  love  all  branches  of  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church,  and  let  us  cultivate  charity  toward 
those  whose  views  so  widely  differ  from  our 
own.  And  let  us  faithfully  defend  the  faith 
delivered  unto  the  saints  and  make  our  own  the 
ardent  loyalty  of  the  poet : 

"  Beyond  my  highest  joy 

I  prize  her  lieavenlj^  ways, 
Her  sweet  communion,  solemn  vows, 

Her  hymns  of  love  and  praise." 


The  Antiquity  of  Methodism.         13 


TI- 
THE   ANTIQUITY    OF    METHODISM. 

"  Among  all  nations  .  .  .  beginning  at  Jerusalem." 

METHODISM  is  now  nearly  nineteen  hun- 
dred years  old.  It  began  with  the  life  of 
the  Christ,  whom  it  worships,  and  whose  teachings 
and  work  in  tlie  world  it  perpetuates.  We  are 
not  to  be  understood,  of  course,  as  claiming  that 
the  formal  organization  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal branch  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  took 
place  nineteen  centuries  ago,  although  we  believe 
that  the  earliest  form  and  life  of  the  Church 
were  more  nearly  like  that  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  of  to-day  than  of  any  other 
branch  of  the  Church  now  existing ;  but  it  is 
not  of  the  outward  form  we  speak.  Method- 
ism is  a  spirit  and  a  doctrine.  Methodism  is 
Christianity.  Dr.  Chalmers  said,  "  Methodism  is 
Christianity  in  earnest."  It  is  that  or  nothing. 
There  is  nothing  in  it  that  was  not  in  Christian- 
ity in  the  beginning.  There  w\as  nothing  essen- 
tial in  Chi'istianity  in  the  beginning  that  is  not 


14:  OuK  Own  Chuech. 

in  Methodism  now.  Its  doctrines  are  the  doc« 
trines  of  Christ  and  of  Paul.  Its  S23irit  is  the 
spirit  of  Pentecost.  Its  methods  are  the  methods 
of  the  apostolic  Chnrch — practical,  far-reachiDg, 
wisely  adapted  to  all  peoples,  the  outgrowth  of 
sound  doctrine  and  of  experimental  piety. 
'  Methodism,  as  we  now  consider  it,  is  not  a 
"  sect,"  nor  is  it  a  "  form,"  but  a  spirit.  It  is  a 
life  informing  and  employing  a  body  of  doctrine. 
See  what  New  Testament  doctrine,  spirit,  and 
activities  are,  and  you  have  Methodism.  Dr. 
Chalmers  was  right. 

Methodism  has  existed  through  all  the  ages 
in  those  elements  which  constitute  the  individ- 
uality and  power  of  the  Church.  It  has  not 
always  been  called  Methodism,  but  it  has  always 
been  Methodism.  The  ecclesiastical  forms 
which  it  assumes  depend  upon  the  exigencies 
of  society,  and  upon  the  practical  wisdom  of 
the  leaders  who  attempt  to  meet  these  exigen- 
cies. Spirit,  doctrine,  and  service  may  find 
place  in  old  institutions,  or  they  may  develop 
new  institutions.  The  reality,  is  not,  however, 
in  the  institutions,  but  in  the  essentials  of  truth 


The  Antiquity  of  Methodism.  15 

and  spirit  bj  wliich  the  institutions  are,  for 
which  they  are,  and  without  which  they  need 
not  be.  Fountains,  with  ample  basins,  jets,  and 
decorations,  are  nothing  without  water.  They 
are  because  of  the  water.  Telegraphic  posts 
and  wires  are  worthless  without  the  electric  cur- 
rent.  Ecclesiastical  organizations  are  dead  and 
useless  things  without  doctrine  and  life. 

Now  Methodism  makes  little  account  of 
Church  forms  and  Church  government.  It 
leaves  it  to  the  decaying  ecclesiastical  stone  and 
brick  and  bronze  fountain-forms  of  Rome  and 
Canterbury  to  glorify  such  things.  Methodism 
is  doctrine  and  spirit — the  essential,  the  perma- 
nent, the  ancient,  the  apostolic,  the  divine  ele- 
ments of  the  Church. 

Therefore  Methodism  is  the  most  ancient  life 
of  the  Church.  Its  continuity  has  never  been 
broken.  Its  lines  of  descent  are  not  corrupted 
by  foul  priests,  profane  and  licentious  bishops, 
the  outrages  of  hierarchical  power,  the  murders 
of  inquisitions,  the  banter  and  sale  of  place  and 
grace.  Its  succession  is  in  the  divine  love  and 
peace  and  strength  which  have  come  into  hum- 


16  Our  Own  Church. 

ble  and  devout  hearts — plebeian,  priestly,  and 
princely-^who  have  yielded  to  the  indwelling 
grace  of  God.  False  doctrine  and  foul  hearts 
break  the  succession,  the  basis  of  wliicli  is  not 
human  or  dependent  upon  the  will  of  popes, 
bishops,  and  kings.  The  basis  of  the  true  suc- 
cession is  in  the  spiritual  life — in  the  deep-flow- 
ing river  of  divine  Love,  and  is  independent  of 
scepter  and  miter,  of  sword  and  coffer,  of  coun- 
cil and  Vatican.  Such  is  the  glorious  unim- 
peachable, imperishable,  apostolic  succession — 
this  Christly  succession  of  Methodism. 

The  true  Church — "  Christianity  in  earnest " 
— is  a  river  flowing  through  all  the  centuries, 
spreading  its  healing  waters  in  many  streams  all 
over  the  earth.  How  glorious  was  its  success 
in  the  first  century — how  broad  and  deep  and 
beautiful !  Those  were  the  days  of  a  successful 
and  jubilant  Methodism.  Read  the  records. 
Hear  the  shouts  of  triumph !  See  the  ingath- 
ering of  souls  !  Rejoice  in  the  reports  of  those 
grand  revivals!  I^o  swinging  "censers,"  ele- 
vated "  host,"  or  lighted  candles  in  those  days ; 
no  elaborate  ritualistic  ceremonies,  discussions 


The  Antiquity  of  Methodism.  17 

about  "  absolution,"  quarrels  ov^er  cut  and  color 
Tof  cassock,  gown,  and  altar  cloth.  In  those 
days  the  "  word "  and  the  "  power "  were  all 
our  Church  cared  for.  People  w^ho  emphasized 
in  those  days  forms  and  successions  and  "end- 
less genealogies  "  ridiculed  the  spontaneity,  in- 
tensity, informality,  and  "confusion"  of  the 
abounding  life.  They  called  these  primitive 
Methodists  "  fools  "  and  "  fanatics  ;"  but  the 
grand  movement  marched  forward. 

A  century  or  so  later  formality  gained  ground. 
Later  still  the  main  current  of  that  first  out- 
bursting  stream  sank  out  of  sight  in  the  arid 
deserts  of  ritualism,  temporal  ambition,  greed 
of  gain,  and  growth  of  hierarchical  pretension. 
It  swept  on,  indeed  —  an  unbroken  stream  in 
hearts  of  unchurchly  saints,  hermits  and  monks, 
merchants  and  housewives — true  souls,  who  de- 
spised the  sham  of  the  "  Church,"  and  rejoiced 
in  the  "  shame "  of  the  Gospel.  And  in  later 
ages  the  grand  river  broke  forth  again,  in  the 
days  of  Luther,  and  in  deeper,  broader,  stronger 
current  in  the  days  of  Wesley.     "  Christianity 

in  earnest " — the  old  Church  force,  the  ori2:inal 
2  "" 


18  OuE  Own  Church. 

apostolic  Church  life  again  blessed  the  world. 
It  filled  the  old  channels,  poured  into  some  of 
the  old  fountains,  washed  their  dust  away,  and 
caused  them  to  flow  and  shine  in  crystal  bright- 
ness and  refreshing  power.  So  full  was  the 
outbursting  stream  of  the  old  Church  life  that 
it  formed  new  channels  and  new  fountains. 
The  limitations  of  English  Church  prejudice 
and  bigotry  and  worldliness,  that  refused  to  rec- 
ognize the  new  outpouring  of  the  old  stream, 
could  not  restrain  it.  It  gained  daily  and  swept 
widely,  and  blessed  every  hamlet  and  city,  and, 
in  spite  of  the  Established  "  Church,"  cut  out 
new  channels  in  England  and  America  and  the 
world  over  for  its  divine  waters.  All  the  Chris- 
tian channel  beds  of  the  globe  are  fuller  and 
deeper  and  wider  to-day  because  of  that  new 
outburst  of  Methodism. 

Old  or  new,  every  thing  depends  upon  the 
stream.  The  new  is,  because  of  it,  as  old  as  the 
old,  and  the  old  is  new  again.  But  the  ancient 
thing  is  the  stream — not  a  few  stones  laid  here 
and  there  through  the  centuries — not  even  the 
channels  through  which  the  stream  flows,  for 


The  Antiquity  of  Methodism.  19 

the  best  channels  of  old  streams  are  often  the 
new  ones  cut  out  by  their  resistless  currents. 
Methodism  is  doctrine  and  spirit — Christianity, 
''  Christianity  in  earnest,"  and  is  the  most  an- 
cient element  in  the  Church  of  Christ  on  the 
planet  to-day. 

All  these  things  have  been  said  of  that  Holy 
Catholic  force  —  Methodism,  and  not  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  which  is  only  one, 
a  very  large  one,  to  be  sure,  but  only  one  of 
the  many  channels  divinely  formed  by  the  pow- 
erful stream  of  "  Christianity  in  earnest."  The 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  one  development 
of  Methodism — large,  practical,  spiritual,  suc- 
cessful, and  full  of  catholic  spirit,  aiming  to  do 
good  to  all,  and  ready  to  pour  its  waters  into 
other  fields  to  irrigate  them,  and  into  other 
streams  to  augment  them. 

Let  its  broad,  apostolic,  beautiful,  and  benign 
ministry  continue,  and  let  its  members  rejoice 
in  the  antiquity  and  divinity  of  its  doctrine, 
spirit,  and  methods ! 

Our  Church  glories,  therefore,  in  its  apostolic 
and  Pentecostal  antecedents,  and  in  its  divine 


20  OuK  Own  Chukch. 

succession.  It  lias  no  sympathy  with  the  dogma 
of  a  literal  "  apostolic  succession,"  ^  as  that 
theory  is  held  and  advocated  to-day  by  repre- 
sentatives of  a  "  visible  Church"  which  claims 
to  have  the  episcopacy  as  a  third  ''  order  "  from 
the  apostles.     We  repudiate  it. 

Our  "  succession "  is  a  stainless,  spotless,  un- 
broken succession  of  truth  and  grace — God's 
truth,  God's  grace — a  succession  that  flows  on 
uncorrupted  through  the  ages,  independent  of 
popes,  bishops,  and  councils  ;  flowing  from  "  the 
river  of  life,"  flowing  on  and  ever.  Glorious 
succession  !  Glorious  Church  !  Let  us  be  glad 
and  grateful  that  our  lot  is  cast  among  a  people 
so  free  from  bondage  to  ecclesiasticism  and  ritual- 
ism and  vain  devices  of  evil  men,  who,  in  dark 
ages,  wore  robes  and  miters,  and  ruled  souls  of 
men  with  rods  of  iron. 

*  See  Appendix 


The  Chukch  and  the  Wokld.  21 


III- 
THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  WORLD. 

'"Come  out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate." 

ONE  of  the  temptations  to  which,  in  these 
days,  our  young  Methodist  Episcopal  people 
are  exposed,  is  the  attempt  to  allure  them  from 
their  own  communion  by  the  specious  and  carnal 
arguments  based  upon  social  standing,  ecclesias- 
tical antiquity,  and  aesthetic  service,  in  certain 
other  Churches.  They  are  invited  to  the  "  so- 
ciables." They  are  called  upon  and  shown 
marked  attentions  by  "  society  "  people.  Tliey 
are  invited  to  parties  where  the  laxities  of  fash- 
ionable life,  under  most  genial  guise,  are 
brought  into  contrast  with  the  more  limited 
provision  for  amusements  in  conscientious  and 
strict  Church  society.  They  hear  mild  jokes  at 
the  expense  of  "  Methodists  "  who  "  oppose  fun 
and  fashion  and  frolic,  and  who  would  turn 
parlors  into  prayer-meeting  rooms."  This  social 
sarcasm  has  its  influence.     Our  young  people 


22  Our  Owx  Church. 

feel  it,  and  sometimes  full  under  it.  Or  the 
venerable  character  of  "  the  Church  "  is  quoted, 
and  its  splendid  service,  its  "wealth"  and 
"  taste  "  and  "  best  society  "  j^raised.  All  these 
considerations  have  their  weight  with  young 
people. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is,  in  our 
judgment,  the  best  representative  on  earth  to- 
day of  the  original  apostolic  Church  founded  by 
Jesus  Christ.  Therefore  we  belong  to  it.  It  is 
a  Church  of  Christ,  an  integrant  part  of  the  one 
Ho]y  Catholic  Church.  It  recognizes  all  com- 
munions which  recognize  Christ  as  their  Head. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  apostolic 
in  its  origin,  in  its  doctrines,  in  its  government, 
in  its  usages,  in  its  spirit,  in  its  work,  in  its 
success.  It  is  established  to  spread  scriptural  ho- 
liness— scriptural  holiness,  not  vagaries,  flights, 
fanaticisms —but  the  holiness  enjoined  in  the 
"Word  and  illustrated  by  the  saints. 

Methodism  embraces  all  classes  of  society.  It 
began  in  the  most  cultured  and  honored  circles 
of  English  society.  It  enrolls  shepherds,  fish- 
ermen, colliers,  nobles,  princes,  and  presidents. 


The  Church  and  the  Wokld.  23 

It  has  found  its  way  into  palaces  and  into  coal- 
pits. Refined  and  cultivated  women  have  de- 
voted themselves  to  its  holy  work,  and  enjoyed 
in  elegant  parlors  delightful  spiritual  fellowship 
as  they  conversed  on  the  things  of  the  divine 
kingdom.  Many  eminent  scholars,  orators, 
statesmen,  scientists,  as  well  as  plebeians,  have 
been  devoted  Methodists.  At  its  altars  bow  the 
lowly  and  the  lofty — lowly  all  as  they  recognize 
the  one  God  who  is  Father  of  all,  the  one  Christ 
who  is  Saviour  of  all,  the  one  Holy  Spirit  whose 
grace,  like  the  sunlight,  rests  on  lofty  palm  and 
cedar,  and  yet  gives  whiteness  and  fragrance  to 
the  lily  of  the  valley. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  glories  in 
the  profound  philosophy,  wisdom,  and  script- 
ural authority  of  its  doctrines,  in  the  wideness 
of  the  mercy  it  proclaims,  and  in  the  power  of 
the  grace  it  upholds.  It  forgets  mere  circum- 
stance in  its  estimate  of  the  worth  of  souls.  It 
looks  upon  the  lowliest  of  mortals,  and  remem- 
bers his  immortal  destiny.  In  humble  places 
it  visits  and  helps  the  poor  and  neglected,  see- 
ing, by  the  eye  of  faith,  the  day  not  far  distant 


24  Our  Own  Church. 

when  the  garb  of  poverty  shall  be  exchanged 
for  the  robes  of  the  eternal  city.  Like  its 
divine  Founder,  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  places  great  stress 
upon  souls — souls  that  outweigh  gold — souls 
that  outshine  diamonds  —  souls  that  outlast 
thrones — souls  that  shall  live  on  when  the  stars 
perish. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  holds  up 
high  standarxis  of  Christian  life.  It  believes  that 
the  spirit  of  the  world  is  opposed  to  the  spirit 
of  Christ.  It  believes  that  the  society  of  the 
world  is  hostile  in  temper  and  tendency  to  the 
true  society  of  the  Church,  whicli  is  the  society 
of  heaven  among  men.  It,  therefore,  disap- 
proves of  w^orldly  amusements,  the  associations 
and  tendencies  of  which  are  downward.  It  re- 
quires all  loyal  communicants  to  deny  them- 
selves ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and  to  live 
soberly  and  righteously  and  godly  in  this  present 
world.  The  command,  ''Come  out  from  among 
them,  and  be  ye  separate,"  is,  with  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  a  real  command,  and 
means  what  it  says.     While,  on  the  one  hand,  it 


The  Chuech  and  the  Would.  25 

denounces  asceticism  and  the  nonsense  of  the 
monastery  and  nunnery,  it  forbids  indulgence 
in  the  follies  of  worldly  society,  and  seeks  to 
turn  the  thought  of  its  members  toward  tlie 
higher  realm  of  spiritual  taste,  true  culture, 
Christ-like  refinement,  and  literary  attainment, 
in  subordination  to  moral  heroism,  divine  aspi- 
ration, and  Christian  joy.  It  distinguishes  be- 
tween sensuous  society  and  rational  society. 
The  radical  idea  of  the  one  is  fleshly  gratifica- 
tion, that  of  the  other  culture  and  character. 
It  distinguishes  between  selfish  society,  which 
seeks  "  a  good  time,"  regardless  of  example  and 
influence,  and  Christian  society,  which  seeks  the 
well-being  of  others,  and  makes  large  sacrifices 
for  the  good  of  others. 

All  this  is,  indeed,  against  "  the  world,"  and 
it  is  also*  against  the  spirit  of  those  Churches 
(if  such  there  be)  and  those  social  circles  calling 
themselves  Christian  who  care  more  for  the 
world  than  for  Christ. 

In  the  days  of  the  Son  of  man  his  disciples 
were  exposed  to  precisely  the  same  assaults  of 
scorn  and  contempt  which  now  greet  those  who 


26  Our  Own  Chukch. 

seek  truly  to  follow  him.  The  principles  which 
influence  men  do  not  chano^e.  Truth  is  al- 
ways  the  same.  There  is  always  an  antag- 
onism between  truth  and  error,  between  right 
and  wrong.  It  requires  as  much  self-sacrifice 
now  to  be  a  Christian  as  in  the  early  days 
of  Christianity.  The  same  old  enemies  exist 
and  assail.  The  same  old  arguments  are 
used.  The  same  old  courage  is  necessary. 
Times  and  fashions  may  change,  but  principles 
are  eternal. 

I  imagine  that  I  hear  a  young  Jew  of  one  of 
the  "best  families"  in  Jerusalem,  in  the  days  of 
the  apostles,  remonstrating  against  the  devotion 
of  young  Christian  disciples.  "  Ah  !  "  says  our 
young  Jewish  Churchman,  "  our  system  is  sus- 
tained  by  the  rich  and  the  great.  The  old  fam- 
ilies with  good  blood  and  much  gold  and  wide 
renown  come  to  our  services.  Your  Jesus  was 
followed  by  beggars  and  represented  by  fish- 
ermen. He  lived  in  a  desert,  had  no  resi- 
dence on  the  best  street,  and  no  access  to  the 
best  families." 

So  be  it.     And  whether  in  the  first  century 


The  Church  and  the  World.  27 

or  the  nineteenth,  the  disciple  of  Christ  must 
stand  with  him,  even  if  the  rich  and  great  and 
noble  are  to  be  sacrificed. 

I  imagine  I  hear  my  Jewish  ecclesiastic  con- 
tinue :  "  Our  system  is  old ;  it  dates  back  to  the 
days  of  Levi  and  Aaron;  the  succession  is  unbro- 
ken. It  is  so  grand  to  think  as  you  look  at  the 
priest  at  the  altar  that  he  belongs  to  the  ancient 
order !  As  for  your  Jesus,  who  is  he  ?  Have 
the  high-priests  ever  recognized  him  ?  Has  the 
oil  been  poured  on  his  head?  Does  he  wear 
priestly  robes  ?  Is  he  in  the  succession  ?  "  Just 
as  old  Jews  talked  in  the  days  of  Christ  some 
of  his  nominal  followers  talk  to-day.  They  talk 
about  "  priests "  and  "  altars,"  "  robes  "  and 
"ritual,"  "ancient  usages"  and  exclusive  pre- 
rogatives. They  say,  "We  are  the  true  Church. 
The  rest  of  yon  are  only  '  sects.'  Yon  have  no 
ordinations  that  are  valid.  We  are  the  only 
people  of  God." 

So  be  it.  And  in  the  nineteenth  century,  as  in 
the  first,  the  disciple  of  Christ  must  stand  by  him 
even  if  the  figments  of  apostolic  succession  and 
ancient  orders  are  utterly  ignored.     There  is  no 


28  Our  Own  Church. 

greater  nonsense  in  all  Church  history  than  the 
claim  of  apostolic  succession  made,  for  example, 
by  the  Romish  Church  and  by  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church ;  and  it  is  well  that  our 
young  people  understand,  at  the  very  outset, 
the  very  absurdity  of  it.  Let  us  be  followers 
of  Christ  instead  of  Aaron,  followers  of  Christ 
instead  of  Judas,  followers  of  Christ  instead  of 
Peter. 

I  imagine  I  again  hear  the  young  Jewish 
Churchman  of  the  first  century  making  his  plea 
with  the  humble  disciple  of  Christ :  "  Our  sys- 
tem is  liberal  and  free.  You  may  stand  well 
with  us,  and  yet  dance  and  play  and  live  as 
you  please.  If  you  keep  passover  week,  and 
observe  the  feast  days,  what  does  the  rest  of  the 
year  matter?  In  following  the  E"azarene  you 
are  limited  and  hedged  in,  required  to  deny 
yourself,  and  made  a  bondsman,  to  conscience 
and  duty.  Your  Jesus  says  :  '  Strive  to  enter 
in  at  the  strait  gate,  for  strait  is  the  gate  and 
narrow  is  the  way  that  leads  to  life  eternal. 
Deny  thyself,  and  take  up  thy  cross,  and  follow 
me.'     But  we  have  no  such  absurd  restrictions. 


The  Church  and  the  World.  29 

We  go  to  the  temple  ;  we  observe  the  services  ; 
and  then  we  live  as  we  please.  We  don't  let 
the  doctrine  or  law  of  the  Church  interfere  with 
our  self-indulgence." 

So  be  it.  And  in  the  nineteenth  century,  as 
in  the  first,  the  disciple  of  Christ  must  stand 
by  him,  even  if  the  dance,  the  card-table,  the 
theater,  and  the  wine-glass  must  be  given  up, 
and  the  lines  sharply  drawn  between  the  world 
and  the  Church,  between  those  who  live  for 
present  sensual  gratification  and  those  who  live 
for  the  life  eternal. 

Again  I  hear  the  Jewish  trifler,  whose  religion 
is  an  ideal  and  a  form,  exclaiming:  "Our  service 
is  so  elegant !  We  have  no  poor  grammar  in  our 
prayers.  Our  chants  are  exquisite  and  rendered 
by  trained  musicians ;  our  services  according  to 
ancient  usage.  We  violate  no  law  of  taste.  We 
conform  to  the  highest  standards.  We  are  not 
interrupted  by  impertinent  mendicants  and 
lepers  and  lame  men  whose  cries  rend  the  air 
and  mar  the  service.  Your  Jesus  entered  the 
city  and  came  toward  the  temple  the  other  day 
riding  on  an  ass,  and  the  common  people  and 


30  Our  Own  Chcjrch. 

even  the  children  shouted  in  iinliturgical  order 
at  his  passage.  In  our  service  we  have  no  such 
deviation  from  propriety." 

So  be  it.  And  in  the  nineteenth  century,  as 
in  the  first,  the  disciples  of  Christ  must  stand 
by  him  even  if  noise  and  excitement  and  earnest 
desire  sometimes  break  the  silence  of  a  public 
service,  or  afflict  the  morbid  sensitiveness  of 
people  who  care  more  for  mode  than  matter,  for 
taste  than  truth.  We  are  not  of  this  world. 
We  must  not  be  ruled  by  it. 

Better  the  Church  which  brings  the  Gospel  to 
souls  longing  after  the  life  eternal ;  the  Church 
founded  by  the  Son  of  God,  who  came  to  give 
life  eternal ;  the  Church  inspired  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  who  is  the  source  of  life  eternal,  than 
a  Church  made  up  of  nobles,  princes,  rich  men 
and  social  magnates,  to  whom  ministers  dare  not 
preach  the  plain  words  of  the  Gospel  lest  they 
lose  place,  salary,  and  reputation. 

Better  the  Church  that  has  its  present  con- 
nections with  the  exhaustless  fountains  of  life 
eternal,  yielding  fresh  supplies  to-day  from  heav- 
enly reservoirs,  than  a  Church  basing  its  claims 


The  Chukch  and  the  World.  81 

upon  broken  arches,  dilapidated  and  waterless 
aqueducts  stretching  from  empty  reservoirs  to 
dusty  cisterns. 

Better  the  Church  that  reiterates  the  words 
and  retains  the  standards  of  the  Lord  Christ 
about  self-denial,  self-resistance,  abandonment 
of  the  world  and  its  lusts  and  pleasures,  about 
love  of  God,  love  of  men,  and  entire  devotion 
to  Him,  than  a  Church  that,  for  the  sake  of  re- 
taining giddy  youth  in  its  communion,  justifies 
all  indulgence,  requires  no  self-sacrifice,  chants 
sweet  music  and  preaches  "  lovely  sermons," 
utters  aesthetic  and  classic  prayers,  thus  uniting 
Christ  and  Belial — the  kingdom  of  darkness  and 
the  kingdom  of  light. 

Better  the  Church  that  rings  with  the  cry  of 
beggars  at  the  beautiful  gate,  of  souls  aglow 
with  the  divine  life  at  Pentecost,  of  souls  that 
know  their  sins  forgiven,  than  a  Church  that,  to 
serve  propriety,  sacrifices  piety,  and  rebukes, 
as  did  the  Pharisees  of  old,  the  hosannas  of  the 
children  in  the  temple,  or  the  halleluiahs  of  the 
disciples  when  the  tongues  of  fire  fell  from 
heaven  upon  their  heads. 


32  OuE  Own  Church. 

Of  this  one  thing  you  may  be  certain : 
You  cannot  make  the  "  Church "  and  the 
*' world"  one.  You  cannot  have  all  the  strength 
and  faith  and  hope  and  joy  of  living  for  others 
in  the  Christly  way,  and  at  the  same  time  enjoy 
the  pride  and  sensuality  and  scorn  for  the  hum- 
ble, and  abandonment  to  pleasure,  which  charac- 
terize the  world. 

You  must  make  a  decision.  You  must  stand 
up  valiantly  for  the  Church-life  as  against  the 
w^orld-life!  You  cannot  play  and  feast  under 
the  enemy's  flag  and  be  accounted  loyal  soldiers 
of  the  great  King. 

Choose  promptly.  Put  yourself  into  positive 
relations  with  Christ,  and  let  the  world  under- 
stand you.     Let  your  prayer  be : 

"  Arm  me  with  thy  whole  armour,  Lord, 

Support  my  weakness  with  V  y  might ; 
Gird  on  my  thigh  thy  conquering  sword, 

And  shield  me  in  the  threatening  fighl;; 
From  faith  to  faith,  from  grace  to  grace, 

So  in  thy  strength  shall  I  go  on, 
Till  heaven  and  earth  flee  from  thy  face, 

And  glory  end  what  grace  begun." 


Bkoad  and  JSTakeow.  33 


xtn 


BROAD    AND     NARROW. 

"  Give  hoed  to  .  .  .  thy  doctrine." 

YOUNG  Christian  people  are  met  in  these 
days  by  the  objection  to  the  Evangelical 
Churches — Methodist  Episcopal,  Presbyterian, 
and  others — that  they  are  rigid  and  severe  and 
narrow  in  their  doctrines.  To  this  objection  I 
wish  to  give  some  attention. 

It  is  easy  to  denounce  positiveness  of  con- 
viction, and  the  consistency  of  action  which 
follows  it,  as  unworthy  and  narrow;  and  it  is 
equally  easy  to  glorify  laxity  of  faith  and  gen- 
eral indifference  to  doctrine,  both  in  theory  and 
policy,  as  broad,  large,  and  noble. 

The  expulsion  by  the  Conference  of  the  Rev. 

Dr.  from  the  ministry  of  the  Methodist 

Episcopal  Church,  some  years  ago,  was  the  occa- 
sion for  many  harsh  utterances  by  people,  in  and 

out  of  the  Church,  on  the  subject  of  "  breadth  " 
3 


34:  OuE  Own  Church. 

and  of  ''narrowness,"  of  "liberality,"  "free- 
dom of  opinion,"  "  freedom  of  speech,"  etc. 
Many  honest  souls  were  then,  as  they  always 
will  be,  misled  by  specious  and  beguiling  talk 
about  "  advanced  ideas,"  "  a  new  era,"  and  "  a 
new  theology." 

The  writer  of  these  lines  gave  at  the  time, 
through  the  columns  of  the  New  York  "  Inde- 
pendent," a  view  of  the  whole  question,  as  sug- 
gested by  the  case — a  view  so  highly  commended 
by  wise  and  good  men  in  and  out  of  the  Church, 
that  he  has  yielded  to  the  suggestion  to  put  the 
article  into  more  permanent  shape. 

This  is  done  without  the  slisihtest  desire  to  re- 

fleet  upon  the  character  of  Dr. himself,  for 

whom,  indeed,  tlie  writer  has  much  respect  and 
admiration,  nor  to  revive  an  old  Conference  dis- 
cussion, which  would,  certainly,  be  an  unworthy 
aim ;  but  to  state,  for  the  benefit  of  our  intel- 
ligent young  Methodist  Episcopal  people,  who 
hear  so  much  in  these  days  about  ''liberality" 
and  "  breadth,"  the  true  philosophy  of  denomi- 
national opinions  and  administrations ;  to  show 
who  the  truly  "  broad  people  "  are,  and  to  enter 


Broad  and  Xaeeow.  35 

protest  against  the  frivolous  and  absurd  claim 
that  people  "  without  fixed  opinions "  are  the 
only  progressive  and  liberal  people  of  the  age. 

With  this  introduction  I  reproduce  the  letter 
with  the  humble  hope  that  it  may  be  of  service 
to  the  numerous  thinking  youths  of  our  great 
and  growing  Church : 

Dr. has  been  expelled  from  the  ministry 

of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The  min- 
isters, his  peers,  did  it.  They  did  it  after  a 
careful  "investigation"  by  the  presiding  elder 
and  after  a  complete  "trial"  by  the  Conference, 
They  did  it  after  years  of  patient  waiting  and 
forbearance.  Tliey  did  it  legally,  according  to 
the  presci'ibed  regulations  of  the  Church.  They 
did  it  kindly,  with  no  malice  or  bitterness,  and 
with  much  generous  sympathy  for  the  offender. 
They  gave  him  time,  counsel,  and  the  right  to 
challenge  every  one  of  the  fifteen  jurors  who 
constituted  the  "select  number"  before  whom 
he  was  tried.  There  was  nothing  cruel  or 
that  savored  of  persecution  ;  nothing  bigoted 
or  narrow  in  the  act,  or  in  the  motive  and 
manner  thereof.    It  w^as  done  openly,  for  "good 


36  Our  Own  Church. 

and  sufficient  cause,"  in  the  spirit  of  love  for 
the  brother,  and  of  loyalty  to  the  cause  of 
Christ. 

This   act   of   the  Conference  does  not 

silence   Dr.  as   a  preacher   of    his    own 

views.  It  does  not  close  his  lips  as  a  public 
teacher.  It  does  not  deprive  him  of  a  "living." 
It  does  not  impoverish  him  or  his  family.  It  is 
to  him  a  great  financial  gain.  It  does  not  aim 
to  "  bring  him  to  terms,"  or  to  modify  his  opin- 
ions ao-ainst  his  own  free-will.  It  does  not  seek 
to  make  him  disloyal  to  his  convictions.  It 
simply  denies  him  the  right  officially  to  repre- 
sent the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  There 
is  in  this  no  "  persecution "  by  the  Conference. 
If  there  be  persecution  in  the  case  at  all,  it  is  on 
the  other  side ;  for  he  who  caricatures  and  thus 
misrepresents  the  doctrines  of  a  party  or  a 
Church,  holding  them  up  to  public  contempt, 
is  himself  the  persecutor. 

The  action  of  the  Conference  is  a  protest 
against  the  publication,  under  Church  author- 
ity, of  vague  and  unsettled  opinions,  and  of 
personal  doubts   concerning   the  fundamentals 


Broad  and  Narrow.  37 

of  evangelical  theology.  Every  thoughtful  man 
has  doubts  and  anxieties  concerning  every  ques- 
tion that  touches  human  destiny  and  the  relatioi? 
of  man  to  God.  Personal  assurance  of  diving 
verities  is  won  only  after  struggle  with  doubt. 
But  the  Conference  believes  that  the  parading 
of  private  doubts  by  the  pulpit  is  unwise  and 
injurious.  It  believes  that  there  is  positiv*^ 
truth,  on  which  the  soul  may  rest  implicitly 
even  where  the  philosophy  eludes  its  grasp. 
There  is  an  evangelical  school  which  accepts  the 
whole  Bible  as  from  God,  and  believes  in  it  a& 
a  supernatural  revelation.  Methodism  believes 
this,  and  believes,  moreover,  in  the  easy  possi- 
bility of  a  personal  religious  experience,  and  in 
the  all-sufficiency  of  grace  for  all  souls.  Her 
distinctive  usages — the  class-meeting,  the  itin- 
erant  ministry,  and  the  connectional  scheme  of 
government — are  but  outgrowths  of  her  broad 
individual  and  experimental  doctrines.  She 
commissions  her  ministers  to  proclaim  certain- 
ties and  not  doubts,  doctrines  and  not  specula- 
tions. Her  ministers  may  privately  struggle 
with  the  problems  they  encounter.      They  are 


38  OuK  Own  Church. 

compelled  to  discuss  these  problems  with  iuquirT 
ers  who  submit  them ;  but  they  have  no  right 
publicly  to  disseminate  them.  To  do  so  is  either 
weak  or  wicked.  As  Prof.  Kobertson  Smith 
w^isely  says  :  "  I  never  introduce  such  questions 
into  the  pulpit.  Positive  truth — truth  which 
can  be  proved,  illustrated,  applied — can  be  found 
sufficient  to  occupy  all  a  minister's  time  in  pub- 
lic instruction,  and  employ  all  his  abilities  in  its 
illustration.  Such  positive  truth,  and  such  only, 
has  power  to  turn  men  to  righteousness,  and  to 
confirm  and  edify  them  therein." 

Abraham  Lincoln  had,  undoubtedly,  many 
misgivings  as  to  the  prospects  and  policy  of  the 
administration,  military  and  civil,  during  the 
Civil  War.  He  spent  many  an  anxious  hour, 
and  considered  many  a  serious  question  which 
he  never  gave  to  the  i3ublic.  Indeed,  to  have 
published  a  tithe  of  his  fears  would  have  been 

"worse  than  disloyalty.     Dr.  seems  to  be 

uncertain  and  unsettled.  Instead  of  waiting, 
reading,  thinking,  conversing  with  his  peers 
and  superiors  in  private,  he  publishes  his  theo- 
ries and  hesitations  to  the  world,  and,  in  the 


Broad  and  Narrow.  39 

publishing,  sometimes  puts  so  miicli  scorn  and 
irony  as  to  betray  more  than  an  intellectual 
doubt.  He  is  really  a  semi-evangelical  liberal- 
ist,  and  belongs  to  the  school  of  Dr.  Freeman 
Clarke  and  Edward  Everett  Hale.  There  is  no 
argument  in  favor  of  his  retention  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  Methodist  theology  which  would 
not  hold  good  for  the  introduction  to  our  min- 
istry of  the  gentlemen  above  named.     In  all 

connnendable  elements  of   character  Dr.  

is  worthy  of  association  with  theui ;  but  the 
Conference  believes  that  neither  they  nor  he 
are  proper  representatives  of  Methodism. 

The  action  of  the  Conference  is  a  protest 
against  the  misrepresentation  of  the  Church,  in 
its  own  pulpit,  by  a  man  pledged  to  present  and 
defend  its  doctrines.  Correct  or  not,  the  im- 
pression does  prevail  among  the  brethren  that 

Dr. has,  for  years,  made  public  statements 

which  place  the  Church  in  an  unfavorable  light; 
as  when,  for  example,  he  leaves  his  audience  to 
infer  that  Methodists  believe  "the  butcher 
theory"  of  the  atonement;  and  his  slurs  and 
innuendoes  against  the  Church  and  against  the 


40  OuK  Oavn  Chukch. 

orthodox  theology  have,  more  than  once,  made 
friends  weep  and  foes  applaud. 

The  action  of  the  Conference  is  a  protest 
against  narrowness  in  interpretation.  It  believes 
that  the  doctrines  which  relate  to  God  have  an 
infinite  side  which  it  is  impossible  for  man  fully 

to   comprehend.      When,   therefore,   Dr.  

claims  to  state  the  full  contents  of  the  Atone- 
ment in  his  "moral  "  theory,  he  limits  and  lowers 
a  sublime  and  divine  doctrine  which,  in  the 
thought  of  the  Church,  involves  legal  as  well 
as  moral  relations  and  effects.  He  sneers  at  the 
doctrine  of  "  the  blood ; "  a  doctrine  which  sets 
forth  the  bearings  of  justice  and  righteousness 
(as  well  as  of  love  and  mercy)  upon  G-od's  gov- 
ernment and  man's  character ;  a  doctrine  which 
no  human  philosophy  can  comprehend  ;  but 
which  the  Evangelical  Church  in  all  the  ages 
has  held ;  which  infidels  and  rationalists  have 
abused  and  caricatured ;  but  which,  like  deep 
and  wide-reaching  foundations,  upholds  the  very 
throne  of  God.  And  on  this  foundation  one 
may  rest  and  be  at  i>eace,  even  though  he  may 
not  see,  measure,  and  map  it  out.     Against  this 


Bkoad  and  Kakkow.  41 

narrowness  tlie  Conference  protests,  as  well  as 
against  the  coarse  and  violent  assaults  which  it 

believes  that  Dr. has  made  upon  the  sacred 

and  precious  mystery  of  the  blood  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ. 

The  action  of  the  Conference  is  a  protest 
against  the  modification  by  mere  human  theo- 
ries, through  human  sympathies,  of  the  divine 
warnings  and  appeals.  There  are  those  who 
teach  the  certain  restoration  of  the  wicked,  after 
ages  of  punishment.  They  say  that  somehow, 
sometime,  something  shall  be  done  in  God's 
universe  to  do  away  with  the  last  result  of  sin. 
"Well,  who  has  not  thought,  with  wonder  and 
longing,  in  those  directions  ?  and  who  would 
not  be  glad  of  such  an  announcement?  But 
there  are  ten  thousand  wishaMe  things  in  hu- 
man life  that  one  has  no  ground  to  expect  and 
no  right  to  promise.  The  Methodist  theology 
finds  nothing  in  the  Bible  to  justify  a  word  of 
hope,  in  a  Christian  pulpit,  concerning  the  finally 
impenitent.  Private  longings  and  speculations 
are  one  thing;  public  proclamations  by  authority 
altogether  another  thing.    The  Methodist  theol- 


42  Our  Own  Church. 

ogy  sees  nothing  but  '^  blackness  of  darkness " 
over  the  fate  of  the  persistent  sinner.  Its  voice 
to  him  is  a  voice  of  warning,  solemn  and  em- 
phatic, with  no  tone  of  mercy  in  it  beyond  the 
present  life.  What  God  may  hold  in  the  life 
that  is  to  come  in  possibilities  of  grace,  consist- 
ent with  the  fearful  threatenings  of  his  word,  1 
know  not;  but  this  I  know,  that  the  Bible  gives 
me  no  right  to  proclaim  any  hope  beyond  to  the 
incorrigible  sinner  here.  I  shut  out  every  ray 
of  light  from  his  future,  that  sin,  in  the  pres- 
ent, may  seem  to  liim  the  black  and  dreadful 

thing  it  is.     Dr.  has  put  a  star,  big  and 

brilliant,  in  the  impenitent  sinner's  sky.  Meth- 
odism does  not  do  this ;  Methodism  never  did 
it ;  dares  not  do  it.     The  Conference  says  that 

even  Dr. shall  not  do  it  by  its  authority ; 

and  it  says  this,  not  to  limit,  or  assail,  or  punish, 
or  persecute  him,  but  for  the  sake  of  loyalty  to 
the  word  of  God. 

The  action  of  the  Conference  is  a  protest 
against  the  interruption  of  certain  experiments 
now  being  made  in  society  by  the  Church;  and 
this  protest  is  made  in  the  interest  of  science, 


Broad  and  Kaerow.  43 

and  is  no  more  narrow  and  unjust  than  the  ac- 
tion of  physicists,  physicians,  and  politicians, 
every  day  and  every-where.  In  the  old-fash- 
ioned debating  society,  which  did  so  much  to 
promote  thought  and  encourage  reading  among 
the  people,  the  question  for  debate  w^as  plainly 
stated,  ''  sides "  taken,  and  representatives  of 
the  "affirmitive"  and  the  '' negative"  chosen. 
When,  through  malice,  mischief,  or  ignorance, 
the  representatives  of  one  side  made  argument 
in  favor  of  his  opponents,  he  was  promptly  re- 
proved by  his  associates,  and,  if  he  persisted  in 
it,  w^as  peremptorily  sent  to  the  "'  side "  he  rep- 
resented and  defended,  and  to  which  he  really 
belonged.  He  was  not  silenced,  but  properly 
assigned.  And  in  this  new  adjustment  there 
was  neither  narrowness  nor  injustice.  The  re- 
manding by  his  associates  of  a  Republican  to 
the  Democrats,  when  he  no  longer  represents 
Republican  ideas  and  policies,  is  no  proof  of 
bigotry  and  persecution.  He  goes  to  his  own 
place,  uses  his  power  of  speech  and  suffrage 
according  to  his  own  view^s ;  nor  is  he  thereby 
ousted  from   citizenship,  nor  is  his  patriotism 


44  Our  Own  Church. 

challenged.  Mr.  Tyndal  makes  an  experiment 
in  physics.  Mr.  Huxley  enters  the  laboratory, 
and,  by  the  smoking  of  a  cigar  or  the  jarring 
of  a  table,  complicates  and  embarrasses  the  con- 
ditions of  certain  experiments  in  which  Mr. 
Tyndal  is  interested.  Who  will  charge  the  lat- 
ter with  narrowness  for  requesting  Mr.  Huxley 
to  remove  to  another  place  or  conform  to  the 
necessities  of  the  occasion  ?  To-day  the  schools 
of  theology  are  experimenting  on  society.  To 
thoughtful  men  the  denominational  subdivis- 
ions, with  their  varied  creeds,  constitutions,  and 
modes  of  work,  are  but  splendid  experiments 
upon  human  nature,  with  the  divine  ideas  and 
forces  which  revelation  introduces ;  and  the 
broadest  and  most  scientific  minds  most  prize 
the  sharply-defined  lines  by  which  the  denom- 
inations are  separated,  "With  malice  toward 
none,  and  with  charity  for  all,"  they  hold  tena- 
ciously to  the  creeds  as  conditions  of  an  impor- 
tant experiment,  in  which  not  only  men  but 
angels  are  interested. 

Here  are  Calvinists,  Arminians,  Liberalists, 
Congregationalists,  Baptists,  each  with  some  dis- 


Bkoad  and  IN'aekow.  45 

tinguishing  idea  of  biblical  theology  or  church 
ordinance  or  church  government,  which  they 
deem  of  importance  to  the  race,  and  which, 
with  pious  and  scientific  intent,  they  seek  to  test 
among  men.  It  is  important  that  the  favorable 
conditions  for  this  testing  be  protected.  While 
in  some  things  the  schools  fully  agree,  and  can, 
to  the  measure  of  their  agreement,  affiliate  and 
co-operate,  it  is  extremely  desirable  that,  on 
other  points,  each  should  be  left  unembarrassed. 
If  a  man  believe  in  a  settled  ministry  so  firmly 
that  he  cannot  serve  in  the  "  itinerancy,"  he  has 
no  right  to  remain  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  And  that  Church  is  not  narrow  if  she 
care  more  for  a  great  principle  than  an  indi- 
vidual. If  a  man  believe  in  "immersion"  as 
the  only  baptism,  there  is  a  place  where  his 
faith  can  find  its  opportunity.  If  a  man  believe 
in  the  Episcopal  rather  than  in  the  Congrega- 
tional mode  of  Church  government,  his  place 
is  easily  defined.  If  a  man  be  "  liberal "  rather 
than  "evangelical,"  (believing  that  the  Atone- 
ment may  be  fathomed  by  the  reason  of  man ; 
believing  in  the  partial  inspiration  of  Scripture 


46  Our  Own  Church. 

and  in  the  possibility  of  future  probation,)  tliere 
are  platforms  on  which  he  can  stand,  and  to 
these  platforms  he  should  at  once  repair.  And 
if,  for  any  purpose,  he  persists  in  remaining 
among  the  debaters  and  experimenters  to  whose 
side  he  does  not  belong,  and  whose  work  his 
presence  retards,  it  is  fitting  for  them  kindly, 
firmly,  and  with  unmistakable  emphasis  to  say 
to  him,  "  Go  out  from  us,  since  thou  ai't  no 
longer  of  us."  Physicists,  politicians,  physi- 
cians, do  it.  The  Church  has  always  done  it, 
and  always  will  do  it,  and  that  in  the  interest 
of  true  progress  and  culture. 

It  is  claimed  that  Dr. does  not,  after  all, 

hold  or  preach  views  out  of  harmony  with  the 
Methodist  Church  ;  that  her  standards  are  so 
indefinite  and  general  as  not  to  cover  the  points 
of  his  alleged  divergence ;  and  that  he  is  but 
showing  how  wide  a  range  of  belief  is  compat- 
ible with  fidelity  to  her  creeds.     Ko  one  knows 

better  than  Dr. how  sophistical  his  claim 

is.  It  does  not  deserve  a  moment's  considera- 
tion. One  has  but  to  read  a  single  sermon  of 
Dr.  's  (that  preached  in  Church,  on 


Beoad  and  K arrow.  47 

Sunday  evening,  before  the  Annual  Conference 
of  1880)  to  know  that  he  does  not  represent 
Methodism. 

Prof.  Swing,  of  Chicago,  fairly  put  the  case 
when  he  recently  said  to  a  Presbyterian  clergy- 
man, "  Dr. is  not  a  Methodist,  and  has  no 

business  to  remain  in  the  Church." 

It  is  alleged  that  other  men,  high  in  official 
position  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  are 

also  "heretical."     This  will  not  save  Dr.  . 

His  pulpit  deviations  are  in  the  essentials  of 
faith.  If  any  one  else  in  the  Church  (be  he 
pastor,  secretary,  agent,  or  bishop)  similarly 
pronmlgates  doctrines  which  antagonize  evan- 
gelical and  Methodist  theology,  let  him  also  be 
tried  and  rejected,  and  this  in  the  interest  of  the 
broadest  catholicity  and  the  tenderest  charity. 


Let  me  urge  young  Methodist  Episcopal  peo- 
ple to  read  the  Scriptures  diligently  and  devout- 
ly, to  study  candidly  the  standards  of  the  Church, 
and  they  will  find  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  really  among  the  broadest  and  fairest 
of  all  the  Christian  denominations. 


48  Our  Own  Church. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  does  not 
require  much  of  one  who  would,  in  sincerity  of 
soul,  seek  the  life  of  love  and  obedience  which 
"  salvation  "  involves.  It  does  not  require  much 
''theology,"  or  the  acceptance  of  many  "points" 
in  a  "  creed."  It  asks  only  concerning  motive 
and  spirit,  and  then  gives  Church  privileges — 
preaching,  prayer,  sacraments,  fellowship,  bib- 
lical training,  and  pastoral  oversight.  With 
very  little  faith,  and  a  mere  atom  of  a  creed, 
one  may  enjoy  the  blessings  which  the  apostolic 
Church  offers. 

But  when  one  attempts  to  teach  by  authority 
in  tlie  Church,  as  exhorter,  class-leader,  Sunday- 
school  teacher,  parent,  or  preacher,  the  Church 
does  have  an  understanding  as  to  what  is  to  be 
taught.     And  this  is  right  and  good  and  broad ! 


The  Classmates'  Meeting.  49 


THE  CLASSMATES'  MEETING. 

'•They  spake  often  one  to  another." 

VHEN  young  people  have  had  a  pleasant 
party,  or  an  excursion,  they  like  to  get 
together  and  to  talk  about  it. 

When  students  who  were  at  school  together, 
after  a  long  separation  meet  again,  they  take 
great  pleasure  in  reviewing  the  toils  and  joya 
and  struggles  of  school  life.  As  '^  classmates  " 
they  meet  and  talk.  When  a  society  of  any 
sort  has  had  a  peculiarly  successful  time  in  car« 
rying  forward  some  enterprise,  the  members 
talk  and  talk  and  talk  about  it. 

Two  young  fellows  were  planning  for  a 
summer  trip  over  the  Atlantic.  For  months  be- 
forehand they  would  meet  and  talk  and  devise 
pleasant  schemes  for  making  the  journey  a  suc- 
cess. They  loved  to  talk  about  it.  And  dur- 
ing the  trip,  as  they  rode  in  European  cars  or 
4 


50  Our  Own  Church. 

walked  among  the  hedges  of  England,  or  exam- 
ined museums  and  picture  galleries,  they  kept 
up,  day  after  day,  a  brisk  conversation.  They 
talked  over  their  experiences:  how  they  hap- 
pened to  start  at  all;  how  they  felt  as  the 
^'Good-bye"  was  spoken;  how  they  enjoyed 
ocean  life ;  how  they  were  affected  by  the  sight 
of  land ;  w^hich  they  regard  as  their  "  best 
day"  up  to  the  present  time ;  w^hat  they  antici- 
pate from  the  journey  yet  to  be  prosecuted  *, 
what  difficulties  they  apprehend ;  what  plans 
they  have  for  overcoming  them ;  how  the  home- 
start  will  seem ;  and  how  the  sight  of  native 
land  again  will  delight  them.  About  every 
thing  they  talk — day  and  night  they  talk.  And 
the  talk  does  them  good.  It  makes  them  more 
united.  It  removes  some  of  their  difficulties. 
It  increases  their  interest  in  tlie  journey.  It 
fixes  on  their  memories  its  varied  experiences. 

In  this  world  every  body  talks.  By  talk  peo- 
ple give  knowledge  to  others.  By  talk  they  test 
the  knowledge  given.  By  talk  they  awaken  an 
interest  in  others.  By  talk  they  may  increase 
their  influence  over  others. 


The  Classmates'  Meeting.  51 

On  all  subjects  men  talk — on  home  life,  on 
music,  art,  science,  business,  politics,  daily  news. 
Is  it  strange  that  men  are  sometimes  inclined  to 
talk  on  religion  ?  Is  any  subject  more  impor- 
tant ?     Is  any  subject  more  interesting  ? 

People  may  talk  too  much.  They  may  talk 
in  a  wrong  spirit.  Talk  may  hurt.  The  tongue 
is  sharper  sometimes  than  a  ^'sword."  St.  James 
says  it  is  a  "fire."  People  may  talk  too  much 
even  on  religion — as  when  they  tire  people  out, 
when  they  talk  unwisely,  when  they  talk  on  the 
wrong  side,  when  they  substitute  talk  for  deeds 
and  character.  But  so  people  may  talk  too  much 
and  in  the  wrong  way  on  a  variety  of  subjects. 
I  have  heard  too  much  business  talk,  too  much 
poHtical  talk,  too  much  idle  talk,  and  sometimes 
too  much  religious  talk — but  not  often.  And 
still  it  is  possible  to  ring  the  bell  of  the  church 
too  often,  too  long,  and  too  loud. 

There  are  two  or  three  kinds  of  religious  talk. 
There  is,  for  example,  the  talk  of  religious  con- 
troversy, which  finds  place  when  people  discuss 
the  ''  doctrine  "  or  the  "  form  "  of  religion — the 
"  trinity,"  the  "  intermediate  state,"  the  "  second 


52  OuK  Own  Chukch. 

coming,"  the  ''  mode  of  baptism,"  "  Sabbath 
vs.  Sunday,"  and  the  like.  I  have  seen  people 
very  angry  in  disputes  over  such  questions. 
Sometimes,  and  under  wise  restraint,  religious 
discussions  are  useful.  They  are  too  often 
abused,  and  lead  to  abuse. 

There  is  the  religious  talk  didactic^  in  which 
plenty  of  advice  is  given,  in  prayer-meeting,  in 
class-meeting,  and  in  private.  It  is  very  easy 
kind  of  talk,  that  is,  for  him  who  gives  the  ad- 
vice ;  not  always  so  easy  for  him  to  whom  it  is 
given.  It  is  useful  sometimes,  especially  when 
he  who  offers  it  takes  it  out  of  his  own  daily 
life.  When  out  of  a  daily  habit  of  cheerfulness 
he  speaks  of  Christian  joy,  or  when  out  of 
every-day  honesty  he  talks  about  integrity — his 
words  weigh  their  full  worth.  When  talk 
comes  from  the  wrong  person,  especially  if 
given  with  professional  glibness,  or  in  a  profes- 
sional tone,  it  puts  the  honest-hearted  hearer  in 
mind  of  the  clatter  of  an  empty  wagon,  and  is 
annoying  and  even,  at  times,  vexatious. 

There  is  religious  talk  experimental.  It  is 
the  telling  of  how  one  felt  once,  a.nd  what  one 


The  Classmates'  Meeting.  63 

once  thought,  and  of  how  one  feels  and  thinks 
now.  It  is  a  report  from  within,  by  the  only 
tongue  that  can  tell.  Experimental  talk  may 
have  several  objects.  It  may  be  designed  to 
give  proof  to  others  of  the  words  of  promise  in 
the  Bible.  God  says  that  he  will,  by  his  Spirit, 
do  certain  things  for  the  soul  of  him  who 
believes ;  that  he  will  give  assurance  of  pardon, 
peace,  joy,  strength,  hope.  Now  when  I  do 
believe,  and  do  receive  what  God  promises,  I 
only  do  what  I  owe  to  my  fellow-men  when  I 
tell  them  about  it.  I  add  my  testimony  to  the 
testimony  of  believers  in  all  the  world,  and 
prove  to  others  (some  of  whom  greatly  need 
and  w^ant  proof  of  that  kind)  the  truth  of  the 
promises. 

Wise  talk  about  one's  experience  may  correct 
one's  own  notions  about  himself.  I  am  not  al- 
ways sure  of  my  feelings— as  to  their  origin  and 
their  healthfulness.  I  may  mistake  my  own 
moods  and  character  as  I  may  mistake  other 
people's  looks,  motives,  and  conduct.  When  I 
talk  about  my  experience,  he  to  whom  I  talk 
may  be  able  to  correct  my  wrong  views,  remove 


54  OuE  Own  Chuech. 

my  doubts  and  difficulties,  and  sliow  me  how.  I 
err  in  my  conclusions.  Talk  about  his  own  ex- 
perience may  commit  one  to  more  definite  views 
and  more  decided  conduct.  By  expression 
my  character  may  become  stronger,  my  views 
clearer,  my  devotion  to  Christ  more  ardent.  It 
may  be  "  a  cross,"  as  we  call  it,  to  talk  about 
one's  self,  especially  about  one's  religious  aims, 
feelings,  doubts,  discouragements,  and  resolu- 
tions. The  "■  bearing  of  the  cross  "  may  be  the 
very  thing  needed  to  give  positiveness  to  pro- 
fession and  influence.  It  is  a  mistake  to  talk 
too  much  about  experience,  or  to  talk  to  any 
body  and  every  body  indiscriminately.  It  is  a 
mistake  to  talk  before  too  many  people  about 
one's  inward  struggles  and  doubts.  But  it  is 
a  great  mistake  not  to  talk  at  all  on  personal 
aims,  desires,  and  delights.  One  may  thereby 
lose  an  opportunity  to  witness  for  Christ  and  to 
influence  others  to  seek  Christ. 

There  is  another  kind  of  religious  talk  which 
is  not  controversial,  nor  didactic ;  neither  is  it, 
directly,  experimental.  It  is  a  self-forgetting 
talk   about    Christ — his  person,   character,  and 


The  Classmates'  Meeting.  55 

offices — until  one  finds  his  heart  aglow  with 
the  light  and  love  of  Christ.  It  does  not  begin 
with  a  look  within  at  all.  It  begins  with  a 
look  upward  toward  Christ.  It  ends  with  an 
unsought  warmth  within.  It  does  not  begin 
with  self,  but  with  Christ.  It  meets  Christ.  It 
walks  with  Christ.  It  talks  with  Christ.  It 
listens  to  Christ  as  he  opens  the  Scriptures  and 
reveals  himself  there  in  its  history,  its  doctrine, 
its  promises.  And  all  at  once,  as  Christ  is  seen 
to  fill  all  the  Scripture,  he  seems  to  fill  the  soul, 
and  jou  afterward  say  to  your  neighbor :  "  Did 
not  our  heart  burn  within  us  as  he  talked  with 
us  by  the  way  and  opened  to  us  the  Script- 
ures ! "  Thus  looking  at  Christ  loosens  the 
tongue.  You  see  him  and  are  delighted  with 
his  wisdom  and  love,  and  your  delight  finds 
words.  You  tell  it.  You  tell  it  because  you 
cannot  help  telling  it.  You  tell  it  because  you 
are  so  glad  you  know  it.  You  tell  it  because 
you  want  other  people  to  know  how  great  and 
blessed  and  mighty  a  Saviour  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is.  He  does  not  seem  to  be  a  dream  or 
a  doctrine,  but  a  friend  near  and  precious.    Per« 


56  Our  Own  Church. 

haps,  if  you  had  begun  by  looking  at  yourself 
you  would  have  had  nothing  to  say  about  him, 
nor  about  yourself;  but  beginning  to  look  at 
him,  a  lire  began  to  burn  in  your  inmost  heart, 
and  Christ  gives  you  experience  and  you  tell  it. 
And  as  you  tell  it  you  feel  an  increase  of  the 
love  that  kindles  it. 

In  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — as  in  all 
Methodist  Churches,  from  the  little  class  of 
earnest  disciples  in  Galilee  to  this  very  day— 
the  believers  in  Christ  have  been  in  the  habit 
of  coming  together  to  talk.  In  the  days  of 
waiting,  before  Christ  came,  "  they  that  feared 
the  Lord  spake  often  one  to  another."  In  the 
days  of  Christ  the  classmates  of  his  blessed 
school  met  often  together  in  upper  rooms,  on 
mountain  tops,  in  desert  places,  and  by  the  sea- 
side, and  they  talked  and  talked  and  talked. 
They  talked  about  their  fears,  their  hopes,  theii 
doubts,  their  longings.  They  talked  about  him 
and  his  kingdom,  his  grace  and  his  promises. 
After  he  left  them  they  talked  on,  and  prayed, 
and  received  the  Holy  Spirit  in  those  glorious 
primitive  class  meetings  of  the  earliest  Church. 


The  Classmates'  Meeting.  57 

Glad  classmates !  Glorious  classmates'  meet- 
ings ! 

Methodism  revived  the  old  plan  of  the  apos- 
tolic days.  To  this  day  "class-meetings"  are 
held  in  all  Methodist  branches  of  the  Chnrch. 
Sometimes  they  are  poorly  attended.  Some- 
times they  are  crowded.  Sometimes  they  are  dull 
and  almost  lifeless.  Sometimes  they  are  full  of 
spiritual  power.  Young  people  are  often  found 
in  them.  Too  often  they  are  attended  because 
enjoyed  only  by  the  old  members  of  the  Church. 

Grand  institution  is  the  class-meeting  of  the 
Church !  I  commend  it  to  every  young  Chris- 
tian. Yes,  some  class-meetings  are  dull,  and  its 
regular  attendants  have  old  ways  and  sometimes 
odd  ways  of  telhng  "experience."  Some  of  the 
classmates  are  very  peculiar,  and  use  a  set  of 
stereotyped  phrases,  and,  never  having  been 
educated,  talk  very  poor  grammar;  and  some 
are  timid  and  scarcely  know  what  to  say,  and  so 
they  say  what  they  "really  didn't  exactly  intend 
to  say;"  and  some  confound  "happy  feelings" 
with  religious  character,  and  go  off  into  tearful 
and  sometimes  noisy  talk  and  shouts ;  and  some 


58  OuK  Own  Chukch. 

forget  to  look  to  Christ,  and  only  look  at  them- 
selves. Cold,  cynical,  unbelieving  hearts  may  find 
something  to  smile  at  in  one  of  these  class-meet- 
ings, but,  after  all,  what  a  blessing  they  are  to  the 
Church ;  to  the  young,  to  the  old,  to  the  tempted, 
to  the  bereaved,  to  the  discouraged!  What 
shadows  they  drive  away !  What  burdens  they 
lift  1     What  joy  they  bring ! 

The  nesrlect  'jf  the  "  class  "  is  one  of  the  sad 
mistakes  of  certain  Christians  to-day.  I  write 
to  young  Methodist  Episcopal  Christians  to 
plead  with  them  on  this  subject. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  point  out  the  errors 
of  class-leaders,  or  to  give  plans  for  improving 
the  class-meeting.  I  may  suggest  that  we  need 
more  class-leaders,  and  more  of  them  women ; 
and  we  need  to  put  more  of  the  class-meeting 
element  into  our  Sunday-school  classes ;  and  in 
all  social  meetings,  whether  for  prayer  or  fel- 
lowship, we  need  more  of  the  Bible — its  passages 
about  Christ,  who  he  is,  what  he  can  do,  what 
he  has  promised,  and  how  we  can  be  more  like 
him  and  the  more  glorify  him.  And  we  need 
to   have   more  wise   instruction   given   to   our 


The  Classmates'  Meeting.  59 

young  people  as  to  tlie  claims  of  the  class,  tliat 
they,  as  classmates  in  the  school  of  Christ,  may 
meet  more  frequently  under  spiritual,  sensible 
leaders,  and  talk  together  about  the  Lord  and 
his  words  and  his  ways,  may  put  themselves  on 
the  side  of  Christ  and  his  Cliurch,  and  thus  help 
to  swell  the  current  of  Christian  influence. 

Let  me  give  you,  dear  young  Christians,  a  few 
words  of  counsel : 

1.  If  a  company  of  you  would  like  to  organize 
a  little  "  classmates'  meeting "  of  your  own, 
rather  than  attend  any  one  of  the  classes  now 
organized  in  your  church,  go  to  the  pastor  and 
tell  him  about  your  preference.  Let  him  appoint 
leader  and  time  and  place.  Abide  by  his  advice 
in  the  matter.  He  is  your  chief  shepherd. 
He  knows  what  is  best  for  his  flock.  It  would 
be  unfair  to  organize  any  meeting  without  his 
consent.  You  will  find  him  glad  to  give  both 
consent  and  counsel. 

2.  When  meetings  are  appointed  always  at- 
tend. Go  most  certainly  and  most  jpTom^jjytly 
when  you  feel  least  inclined  to  go.  Be  gov- 
erned  by  a  sense  of   duty  in  this  particular. 


60  OuK  Own  Church. 

Mr.  Wesley  says,  "Trample  under  foot  that  en- 
thusiastic doctrine,  that  '  we  are  not  to  do  good 
unless  OUT  hearts  he  free  to  ^Y.' "  One  of  the 
things  you  most  need  in  the  training  of  char- 
acter is  the  strengthening  of  the  will.  Nothing 
helps  in  this  like  the  doing  of  duty  from  prin- 
ciple when  one's  feelings  are  least  inclined  that 
way.  Go  to  the  meeting  because  you  ought 
The  more  of  this  kind  of  self-control  you  exer- 
cise the  stronger  you  w^ill  be,  and  the  sooner 
you  will  come  to  delight  in  all  duty. 

3.  Speak  or  not,  as  you  prefer.  Try  to  speak, 
but  be  true  to  yourself  in  every  w^ord  you  do 
speak.  Avoid  asking  yourself  what  impression 
your  testimony  may  make  on  others  concerning 
you.  Care  for  such  impression  may  blight  your 
best  aspirations.  Be  true  to  Christ  while  you 
are  true  to  yourself.  It  matters  little  what 
your  associates  think  of  you.  Of  this  be  very 
sure,  they  will  easily  read  any  hollowness  or 
pretense  in  your  looks  or  testimony.  There  is 
something  in  human  nature  that  reads  human 
nature  without  words  and  beyond  words  and 
in  spite  of  words.     Be  true  to  the  truth,  and 


The  Classmates'  Meeting.  61 

your  speech  will  "be  with  grace,  seasoned  with 
salt." 

4.  Do  not  feel  bound  to  follow  any  particular 
order,  nor  to  use  set  terms  or  phrases.  Stand 
up  to  speak,  or  remain  seated.  Never  mind  how 
other  people  talk  or  what  they  do.  Speak  your 
own  honest  convictions  in  the  way  that  seems 
best  to  you. 

5.  Do  not  feel  bound  to  tell  to  any  body  else 
the  deepest  and  most  secret  struggles  of  your 
heart.  Use  good  sense  in  this.  Some  true 
things  you  might  tell  might  do  no  good,  and 
might  do  much  harm  to  others. 

6.  Speak  chiefly  of  Christ,  how  you  think 
concerning  him,  how  his  "  yoke "  seems  to  you, 
what  you  know  of  his  "liberty,"  and  quote  many 
of  his  own  words.  The  important  theme  of 
Christian  life  is  Christ.  Let  your  talk  be  about 
him,  and  not  about  yourself,  except  as  thinking 
about  him  your  tongue  is  touched  into  testi- 
mony by  his  grace  in  your  heart. 

7.  Take  your  Bible  with  you  to  the  class. 
Head  it  while  you  wait  for  other  members  to 
come.     Quote  it  as  you  are  inclined.     Perhaps 


62  OuK  Own  Church. 

a  sliort  reading  from  the  book  may  be  the  best 
contribution  you  can  sometimes  make  to  the 
profit  of  your  classmates. 

8.  Carry  the  best  aspirations  of  the  happiest 
class-hour  into  your  daily  life.  Take  the  class- 
room atmosphere  home  with  you  to  kitchen  and 
parlor.  Take  it  to  street  and  school,  shop  and 
field.  Live  all  the  day  in  the  tone  of  your  talk 
at  the  classmates'  meeting.  Fill  parlors  wdth 
it,  and  your  "  society "  temptations  will  be 
reduced. 

9.  Turn  the  class-meeting  into  a  council-fire, 
and  around  it  discuss  practical  work.  You  love 
Christ ;  then  work  for  him.  Yon  want  to  be 
like  him ;  then  tiy  to  work  as  he  worked. 
Consult  with  your  classmates  about  visiting  and 
reading  to  invalids,  about  teaching  in  Sunday- 
school,  about  encouraging  young  people  to 
read  good  books,  about  inviting  neighbors  to 
attend  church,  about  helping  in  local  mis- 
sionary, temperance,  reform,  and  other  iisefid 
work.  Fill  your  souls  v/ith  great  thoughts 
about  Christ,  and  your  lives  with  gracious  deeds 
for  Christ. 


The  Classmates'  Meettn-g.  63 

10.  Avoid  fault-finding,  uncliarity,  and  all 
ill-will.  Be  gentle  and  helpful  toward  your 
classmates.  Strive  to  grow  in  grace  daily.  Seek 
the  "  sweet  persuasion  "  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
gives  that  you  are  a  child  of  God.  Prove,  to 
yourself  and  others,  by  purity,  patience,  and  active 
service,  that  you  do  not  mistake  the  "voice."  Let 
good  deeds  put  the  seal  on  good  words,  and  let  the 
classmates  go  forth  weekly  from  their  meeting 
to  serve  God. 

You  will  be  interested  to  read  what  our  be- 
loved little  Church  Hand-book,  the  "Disci- 
pline," says  about  "Classes  and  Class-meetings," 
'*  The  Design  of  the  Organization,"  etc. 

CLASSES  AND  CLASS-MEETINGS. 

The  design  of  the  ornanization  of  classes  and  tlie  appoint- 
ment of  leaders  is — 

To  establish  a  system  of  pastoral  oversight  that  shall 
effectively  reach  every  member  of  the  Church. 

To  establish  and  keep  up  a  meeting  for  social  and  religious 
worship,  for  instruction,  encouragement,  and  admonition,  that 
shall  be  a  proJfitable  means  of  grace  to  our  people. 

To  carry  out,  unless  other  measures  be  adopted,  a  financial 
plan  for  the  raising  of  moneys. 

The  primary  object  of  distributing  the  members  of  the 
Church  into  claSvies  is  to  secure  the  subpastoral  oversight 
made  necessary  by  our  itinerant  economy.    In  order  to  secure 


64:  Our  Own  Church. 

this  oversight,  let  the  classes,  wherever  practicable,  be  com- 
pused  of  not  more  than  twenty  persons,  and  let  the  leader  re« 
port  at  each  Qua'terly  Conference  the  condition  of  bis  claps, 
as  follows:  Number  of  members  in  his  class;  number  of  proba- 
tioners; average  attendance;  number  liabitually  absent;  num- 
ber of  class-meetings  held  ;  number  who  contribute  to  the 
support  of  the  church;  number  of  visits  made;  number  of 
heads  of  families  in  the  class,  and  what  proportion  of  them 
observe  family  worship;  number  of  Church  papers  taken  by 
class-members;  miscellaneous  matters. 

Let  each  leader  be  careful  to  inquire  how  every  soul  of  his 
L-lass  prospers ;  not  only  how  each  person  outwardly  observes 
the  rules,  but  how  he  grows  in  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God. 

Let  the  leaders  converse  with  those  who  have  the  charge 
of  their  circuits  and  stations  frequently  and  freely. 

In  order  to  render  our  class-meetings  interesting  and  profit- 
able, remove  improper  leaders;  see  that  all  the  leaders  be  of 
sound  judgment  and  truly  devoted  to  God. 

In  the  arrangement  of  class-meetings  two  or  more  classes 
may  meet  together,  and  be  carried  on  according  to  such  plan 
as  shall  be  agreed  upon  by  the  leaders  in  concurrence  with  the 
preacher  in  charge. 

Let  care  be  observed  that  they  do  not  fall  into  formality 
ihrough  t!ie  use  of  a  uniform  method.  Let  speaking  be  volun- 
tary or  the  exercises  conversational  the  leader  taking  such 
measures  as  may  best  assist  in  making  the  services  fresh, 
spiritual,  and  of  permanent  religious  profit. 

Let  the  leaders  be  directed  to  such  a  course  of  reading  and 
study  as  shall  best  qualify  them  for  their  work;  especially  let 
such  books  be  recommended  as  will  tend  to  increase  their 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  and  make  them  familiar  with 
those  passages  best  adapted  to  Christian  edification.  "When- 
ever practicable,  let  the  preachers  examine  the  leaders  in  the 
studies  recommended. 


OuK  Settled  Itinerancy.  65 


OUR  SETTLED    ITINERANCY. 

"  Let  us  go  into  the  next  towns." 

THE  itinerancy  is  the  name  given  to  a  system 
of  ministerial  supply  by  which  pastors  are 
changed  from  time  to  time  from  one  field  of 
labor  to  another.  They  serve  a  church  for  a 
limited  term,  and  then  go  to  another  church,  and 
then  another. 

Most  ministers  in  churches  of  all  denomina- 
tions are  itinerants.  We  find  the  smallest  per- 
centage of  men  who  have,  all  their  ministerial 
lives,  been  pastors  of  one  church.  All  the 
Churches  have  an  itinerancy.  You  will  find  it  in 
the  Presbyterian  Church  and  in  the  Baptist  and 
Congregational  Churches  ;  indeed,  every-where. 

There  are  two  ministries :  The  itinerant  sys- 
tem of  the  "settled  ministry,"  and  the  settled 
ministry  of  the  "  itinerancy."  The  latter  is  the 
splendid,  steady,  working  system  of  that  method- 
ical Church  organization  known  as  Methodism 
— the  modern  development  of  "  Christianity  in 


66  Our  Oavn  Church. 

earnest" — with  its  wise,  rational,  practical,  effi- 
cient methods  of  work.  It  has  tested  thoroughly 
the  itinerant  plan. 

The  "itinerancy  of  the  settled  ministry"  is 
found  in  all  the  Churches  outside  of  our  own ; 
among  them  the  Protestant  Episcopal,  Presby- 
terian, Baptist,  Congregational,  and  Lutheran. 
Ministers  change.  Few  remain  for  life.  Very 
few  for  ten  years.  They  itinerate  when  they 
grow  tired  of  one  place,  or  think  they  can  be 
more  useful  elsewhere ;  or  when  their  people 
grow  tired  of  them,  and  also  think  they  can  be 
more  useful  elsewhere;  or  when  a  small  minority 
of  their  influential  people  think  a  "change" 
would  be  profitable.  Then  the  settled  minister 
begins  to  itinerate.  He  itinerates  as  a  "supply" 
to  fill  vacant  pulpits.  He  itinerates  as  a  "candi- 
date" to  find  a  vacant  pulpit  that  he  would  like 
to  fill.  He  seeks — and  often  finds.  Kot  always, 
for  an  alarmingly  large  proportion  of  the  min- 
isters who  belong  to  the  settled  ministry  are 
without  pulpits  —  thousands  of  them,  and  an 
alarmingly  large  proportion  of  churches  are 
without  pastors.     The  minister  seeks,  and  when 


OUK    SeTILED    iTmEEANCY.  67 

he  finds  he  "  settles."    'No  wonder  people  smile 

when  it  is  reported  that  "  The  Kev. has 

been  settled  over Church."     There  is  only 

one  thing  more  amusing.  It  is  to  hear  him 
preach  a  sermon  in  favor  of  a  "settled  ministry," 
and  point  out  the  "  defects  of  the  itinerancy." 
But  it  is  a  good  thing  for  him  to  have  that  ser^ 
mon  on  hand.  He  can  preach  it  often — as  he 
itinerates  and  settles,  itinerates  and  settles,  as 
the  years  go  by.  And  we  must  not  condemn 
him  too  emphatically.     He  does  good. 

The  "  ministry  of  the  settled  itinerancy "  is 
another  form  of  ministerial  supply.  It  provides 
an  intermediary  agency  in  a  system  of  bishops 
and  presiding  elders,  and  encourages  expression 
of  preference  by  both  preachers  and  peoj)le. 
There  is  on  the  part  of  both,  for  the  good  of 
both,  a  reference  of  the  questions  "who"  and 
"where"  to  godly  men  whose  experience  and 
wisdom  may  be  trusted. 

Let  us  test  the  system  by  results.  What 
are  the  facts  in  Methodism  ?  No  church  witli- 
out  a  pastor ;  no  pastor  without  a  church,  for  a 
single  Sabbath;  little  friction  anywhere;  mar- 


68  Our  Own  Church. 

velous  harmony,  activity,  and  success  every- 
where. There  are  some  ministers  and  laymen 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  w^ho  would 
like  to  see  some  modification  of  the  plan — the 
extension  of  the  time  of  possible  pastoral  service 
in  a  single  church  to  a  longer  but  limited  term. 
A  very  few  advocates  of  extension  would  remove 
all  restriction  and  allow  a  j^astor  to  receive  an- 
nual appointments  for  an  indefinite  time.  But 
the  voice  of  the  Church  has,  with  singular  una- 
nimity, indorsed  the  itinerant  system  as  a 
whole.  The  latest  attempts  to  lengthen  the 
pastoral  limit  have  been  successful,  and  now 
five  years  is  the  limitation.  Yet  the  compar- 
atively small  number  of  ministers  and  charges 
which  availed  themselves  of  the  former  ex- 
treme limit  of  three  years  seemed  to  jus- 
tify the  conservative  policy  of  the  Church  in 
reference  to  this  question.  But  let  ns  follow  the 
leadings  of  providence. 

The  ministry  of  the  settled  itinerancy  has 
many  advantages  to  people  and  to  preachers. 

It  gives  "  talent "  a  fair  chance  to  assert  itself 
and  take  its  place  of  opportunity  and  pre-emi- 


OuE  Settled  Itixerais^cy.  69 

nence.  It  provides  for  the  expression  of  pref- 
erence on  tlie  part  of  preachers  and  j)eople.  It 
makes  it  every-waj  desirable  for  the  appointing 
power,  if  possible,  to  gratify  both.  It  provides 
safeguards  by  which  any  abuse  of  power  may  be 
brought  to  speedy  arraignment  and  punishment. 
It  saves  preachers  and  people  a  world  of  anxiety. 
It  discourages  the  organization  of  permanent 
cliques  or  parties  in  the  local  church.  It  culti- 
vates the  spirit  of  mutual  forbearance.  It  gives 
the  various  classes  of  people  in  a  church  a  di- 
versity of  "talent"  suited  to  their  several  tastes 
and  needs — and  all  this  without  developing  the 
partisan  spirit.  It  distributes  ministerial  ability 
— and  this  builds  up  many  sides  of  the  church. 
"What  one  man  omits  his  successor  supplies.  It 
throws  the  responsibility  of  the  continuous  life 
of  the  church  upon  the  laity,  and  not  upon  the 
pulpit.  It  develops  local  working  force.  Local 
preachers,  class-leaders,  and  Sunday-school  work- 
ers become  a  body  of  permanent  pastors,  so  that 
the  affairs  of  the  church  are  in  the  same  hands 
for  years,  whatever  the  ministerial  changes  may 
be;  and  in  this  local  board  of  permanent  pastors 


70  OuK  Own  Chukch. 

the  itinerant  pastor  lias  wise  and  experienced 
counselors.  It  also  guarantees  the  frequent  and 
various  reiteration  of  the  fundamental  truths 
of  the  Gospel. 

The  settled  itinerancy  is  a  great  blessing  to 
the  minister  himself.  If  he  be  a  thoughtful  and 
studious  man,  it  gives  him  rare  opportunity  for 
the  study  of  human  nature,  the  revision  of  ser- 
mons, and  the  reading  of  current  theological 
and  general  literature.  No  system  so  develops 
preaching  power  and  pastoral  efficiency.  It  in- 
cites to  promptness,  system,  and  fidelity  in 
pastoral  work.  The  limit  of  time,  understood 
from  the  beginning,  impels  him  to  industry  and 
faithfulness. 

The  itinerancy  secures  to  a  pastor  a  delightful 
social  life,  widening  his  circle  of  choice  friends 
through  passing  years  and  in  many  places.  It 
gives  him  perfect  independence  of  the  local  lim- 
itations which  are  created  by  local  affiliations, 
and  by  a  desire  to  conciliate  public  opinion  and 
the  "powers  that  be"  in  church  and  community. 
It  makes  him  a  "  voice  "  from  God  to  a  people, 
to  whom   he   comes  by  a   divine  commission, 


OuK  Settled  Itinekancy.  T1 

among  whom  lie  speaks  only  for  an  appointed 
season,  of  whom  he  is  sufficiently  independent 
while  with  them  to  proclaim  fearlessly  the  whole 
truth,  and  from  whom  he  goes  with  wealth  of 
experience  and  the  firmness  of  a  new  resolve 
to  labor  more  wisely  and  more  energetically  in 
another  field.  His  itinerating  life  becomes  a 
school  of  theology  and  of  character. 

The  system  is  not  "  oppressive."  No  men  are 
less  oppressed  than  Methodist  ministers.  They 
are  as  independent  a  class  of  men  as  one  can  find 
in  America.  The  itinerancy  is  vastly  more  free 
from  the  discomfort  which  follows  the  exercise 
of  a  superiors  will  and  authority  than  the  army 
and  navy  in  this  republican  government.  The 
young  miss  who  ''  pities  the  wife  of  a  Methodist 
minister  subject  to  bishops,  and  likely  at  any 
time  to  be  removed,"  looks  with  coveting  eyes 
on  subalterns  of  army  and  navy,  forgetting  what 
impotent  things  they  are  in  the  grasp  of  superior 
power,  over  which  they  have  no  influence,  and 
from  which,  except  in  extreme  cases,  they  can 
take  no  appeal.  Ah,  little  sympathizing  maiden, 
your  itinerant  preacher  is  a  king  as  compared 


72  Our  Own  Church. 

with  your  lieutenant,  captain,  major,  or  colonel 
in  armj  or  navy ! 

Nor  is  the  itinerancy  "destructive  of  social 
life  and  sympathy."  The  new  pastor  is  already 
known.  He  has  his  Conference  reputation.  He 
comes  a  new  pastor,  but  not  a  stranger  to  the 
congregation.  A  hearty  welcome  awaits  him. 
The  parsonage  is  made  warm,  clean,  and  ready. 
Friends  gather  to  greet  him  and  his  family.  If 
he  would  be  popular  and  attract  society  in  the 
settled  ministry,  he  has  superior  facilities  for 
the  same  in  the  itinerancy.  When  he  leaves 
he  goes  by  the  operation  of  a  general  law,  not 
through  local  strife.  His  best  qualities  remain 
as  a  pleasant  possession  to  his  people.  He  is 
put  into  the  sacred  place  of  the  old  pastors.  His 
good  work  is  remembered.  His  faults  are  likely 
to  be  forgotten.  His  friends  still  love  him. 
His  opponents  do  not  annoy  him. 

The  local  church,  through  this  system,  ac- 
quires an  inheritance  of  talent,  service,  and  sym- 
pathy in  the  pastors  it  has  had.  And  these  still 
remain  in  the  Conference,  accessible,  visiting 
now  and  then  their  old  parishioners,  preaching 


Our  Settled  Itinerancy.  73 

in  the  old  pulpit,  recalling  the  old  times,  warm- 
ing the  hearts  of  the  converts  of  their  ministry, 
■who,  if  they  have  a  pardonable  preference  for 
the  preacher  who  led  them  to  Christ,  may,  by  his 
visit,  gain  a  new  impulse  toward  the  kingdom. 
Eich,  indeed,  are  our  ministers  and  churches  in 
the  love  and  memory  thus  promoted  ! 

"  But  this  constant  moving,  how  hard  it  is ! " 
Yes,  in  the  settled  ministry,  where  no  provision 
is  made  for  systematic  "moving,"  and  where 
there  are  no  permanent  parsonages  with  peril] a- 
nent  furniture— it  is  hard  to  move  so  often. 
But  spare  your  sympathy  for  the  itinerant  who 
moves  the  personal  effects  of  his  family  once 
every  two  or  three  years  from  parsonage  to  par- 
sonage.  Your  wealthy  resident  of  Fifth  Avenue, 
who  goes  to  Saratoga,  or  Cape  May,  the  White 
Mountains,  or  Europe,  summer  after  summer- 
packing  up  innumerable  trunks,  preparing  to 
close  the  house  for  three  months ;  moving  out, 
adjusting  furniture  and  goods  at  the  "  summer 
residence"  or  the  hotel,  coming  back,  getting 
the  winter  home  into  running  order  again— six 
movings  in  three  years— why,  young  reader, 


74  OuK  Owx  Church. 

your  millionaire  and  liis  family,  who  sneer  at 
the  movings  and  discomforts  of  the  traveling 
ministry,  move  live  or  six  times  as  often  as  the 
ministers  whom  they  commiserate. 

"But  that  permanent  furniture  in  a  parson- 
age— who  wants  to  have  a  house  with  furniture 
in  it  that  other  people  have  used  ? "  O!  dainty 
friend,  why  don't  you  object  to  the  hotel  furni- 
ture at  Cape  May  or  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel  ?  You 
enjoy  that,  although  in  one  season  it  is  used  by 
twenty  times  as  many  different  people  as  the 
furniture  of  a  parsonage  in  twenty  years.  JS^on- 
sense,  little  fault-finder !  Your  objection  has  no 
weight.  Soap  and  water  and  paint  and  varnish 
and  taste  and  industry  easily  make  old  things  new 
and  fresh  and  clean.  And  "  old  furniture "  is 
the  fashion  nowadays ! 

We  know  of  no  serious  and  unanswerable 
objections  to  the  itinerancy.  It  has  its  toils 
and  cares,  but  it  is  a  delightful  life,  full  of 
novelty  to  the  young,  full  of  opportunity  to 
the  old.  It  is  a  useful  life — a  life  of  divine 
aims  and  inspirations.  It  has  achieved  wonders 
for  Church  and  nation. 


Our  Settled  iTiNERANcr.  To 

It  is,  indeed,  a  pilgrimage.  What  else  is 
human  life?  How  many  families  stay  m  one 
house  or  in  one  place  for  any  great  length  of 
time  ?  And  how  soon  all  come  to  the  grave ! 
But  this  itinerancy  is  a  pilgrimage,  with  Christ 
as  it  guide,  heaven  as  its  goal,  and  helpful 
service  as  its  object. 

What  happy  hearts  have  gathered  about  par- 
sonage firesides!  What  noble  lives  have  been 
begun  and  what  splendid  sacrifices  have  been 
made  in  these  old  parsonages  of  Methodism ! 
And  what  glorious  translations  from  earth  to 
heaven  have  they  witnessed  ! 

Sometimes  a  young  man  who  has  been  edu- 
cated in  the  itinerant's  home,  and  who  has  by 
father's  professional  position  been  admitted  into 
good  society — a  class  of  society  to  which,  per- 
haps, he  could  never  otherwise  have  had  access 
— is  heard  to  complain  against  or  ridicule  the 
itinerancy.  He  hears  people  who  never  studied 
the  subject  speak  lightly  of  it.  He  joins  in 
their  adverse  criticism.  Ferhaps  he  goes  into 
more  "  fashionable  circles,"  unites  with  a  more 
"fashionable  church,"  forsakes  the  church  that 


76  Our  Own  Chukch. 

gave  him  all  the  position  and  education  he  has, 
and  ridicules  the  "itinerant  system."  His  sister 
admits  what  silly  girls  say  about  its  disadvan- 
tages, and  is  tempted  to  find,  in  other  circles, 
her  chnrch  and  social  home. 

Young  friends !  sons  and  daughters  of  Meth- 
odist ministers!  stand  by  your  home,  your  father, 
your  mother !  Stand  by  the  Church  that  made 
you  all  that  you  are  !  Study  its  history ;  and  if 
you  admire  heroism  and  advancement  you  will 
Jiud  its  records  full  of  both.  Study  its  economy ; 
and  if  you  admire  sound  philosophy  and  prac- 
tical method,  you  w^ill  delight  in  the  ways,  as 
well  as  in  the  doctrine  and  spirit,  of  your  be- 
loved Church! 

But,  be  loyal  to  your  antecedents.  Do  not 
allow  the  Church  that  made  you  to  be  misrep- 
resented by  people  who  are  ignorant  of  her 
record  and  doctrine  and  work.  Speak  bold 
words  for  her.  Live  and  die  in  her  communion. 
Use  your  influence  to  build  up  that  branch  of 
the  Church  in  which  your  father  and  mother 
spent  their  lives,  and  to  which  you  owe  intel- 
ligent and  perpetual  loyalty ! 


Eabnest  Cheistians.  77 


EARNEST    CHRISTIANS. 

"  Thy  will  be  done." 

IF  Metliodism  is  Cliristianity,  Methodists 
sliould,  of  course,  be  Christians.  And  if 
"  Methodism  is  Christianity  in  earnest,"  Meth- 
odists should  be  earnest  Christians. 

Now  earnest  Christians  are  those  who  have 
the  thing  and  not  merely  the  theory,  the  fact 
and  not  merely  the  form.  They  hold  the  doc- 
trine in  both  letter  and  spirit.  What  their 
intellects  know  and  their  lips  say,  their  hearts 
feel  and  their  lives  prove.  They  not  only  pos- 
sess religious  truth,  but  religious  truth  possesses 
them,  captures  them,  masters  them,  fills  them. 
The  head  is  full  of  it.  The  conscience  is  quick 
and  tender  because  of  it.  The  heart  is  warmed 
by  it.  The  will  is  strong  in  it.  The  tongue 
tells  it.  The  eyes,  at  times,  shine  with  it.  And 
the  steady-going,  every-day  living  at  home,  at 


78  Our  Own  Chuech. 

school,  at  business,  as  well  as  at  church  and 
class-meeting,  demonstrates  its  power.  Our 
religion  is  from  heaven.  It  is  supernatural.  It 
has  divine  energy  in  it. 

To  earnest  Christians  the  truths  of  Christian- 
ity are  real.  Thej  are  serious,  holy,  splendid, 
eternal  verities.  God  is,  and  is  re  warder.  He 
is  not  far  from  every  ,one  of  us.  In  him  we 
live  and  mov^e  and  have  our  being.  He  is  holy, 
and  loathes  sin.  He  is  gracious,  and  pities  the 
sinner.  lie  is  Love,  and  folds  to  his  heart  the 
penitent  believer  and  fills  that  heart  with  peace 
— with  love — with  joy— such  as  the  w^orld  has 
not  and  cannot  give. 

To  earnest  Christians  Christ  is  a  real  being, 
divine  and  spotless ;  bringing  the  holy  Father 
and  the  guilty  prodigal  together,  by  his  death  of 
atonement,  by  his  resurrection  of  power,  by  his 
Spirit  of  regeneration.  And  this  Holy  Spirit  is 
real — divine,  omnipotent,  eager  to  awaken  and 
quicken  the  sinner,  and  to  strengthen  and  wit- 
ness and  abide  within  him,  and  to  guide  him 
every  day,  and  to  sanctify  him  wholly,  to  fill 
him  with  divine  love,  for  divine  work  here  and 


Earnest  Christians.  79 

for  divine  fellowship  hereafter.  Thus  "  Theol- 
ogy" becomes  personal  and  vital.  It  is  not  a 
matter  of  books  and  creeds  and  sermons,  but  of 
life  and  action — a  reality. 

Earnest  Christians  do  nqi  always  feel  the 
same,  but  they  hold  on  to  Christ.  In  darkness 
they  trust  and  wait  and  work  on.  In  sunsliine 
they  are  glad.  They  are  faithful  to  God  in 
hours  of  good  feeling  and  in  hours  of  gloomy 
feeling.  They  are  like  the  needle — true  to  the 
pole  w^hether  the  warm  sun  of  July  shines  upon 
it  or  the  storms  of  January  cover  it  with  ice 
and  snow. 

Earnest  Christians  test  and  prove  their  faith 
and  feeling  by  works.  They  «r<3,  and  they  go^ 
and  do.  Christian  doctrines  with  them  are  not 
choice  seeds  wrapped  up  in  pretty  papers  and 
placed  in  boxes  on  shelves,  with  scientific  names 
to  tell  what  they  are,  and  figures  to  show  how 
much  they  are  worth.  They  are  rather  seeds  in 
good  ground  —  sprouting,  growing,  blooming, 
and  bearing  fruit.  What  they  yield  tells  what 
they  are  worth. 

Earnest  Christians  visit  the  sick,  comfort  the 


80  Our  Own  Church. 

bereaved,  read  to  the  blind,  give  to  the  poor, 
teach  the  children,  feel  practically  interested  in 
mission  work  at  home  and  abroad,  in  reforms  of 
every  kind.  They  are  deeply  interested  in  the 
country,  so  talking  and  so  voting  that  there  may 
be  pure  laws  and  wise  men  to  execute  them. 
They  account  nothing  unimportant  that  con- 
cerns man — his  temporal,  social,  moral,  spiritual 
life.  If  the  temperance  work  needs  an  advocate 
in  a  town,  or  if  a  great  moral  question  is  dragged 
into  politics  and  needs  public  discussion,  every 
body  knows  which  pulpit  is  sure  to  speak  out 
on  the  right  side,  and  with  perfect  fearlessness. 
Methodism  believes  in  a  religion  that  must  go 
on  missions  of  faithful  reproof  and  gracious 
invitation — every-where.  It  has  its  eye  on 
heaven,  but  it  believes  in  bringing  as  much  of 
heaven  to  the  earth  as  possible. 

Earnest  Christians  know  that  earnestness  must 
be  fed  by  truth  and  fellowship  and  prayer. 
They  insist  on  much  Bible  reading,  on  compari- 
son of  Christian  experiences,  on  united  and  fer- 
vent prayer,  on  hearty  singing,  on  practical 
work  with  people  for  their  souls'  sake.     Hence 


Earnest  Christians.  81 

Methodists  are  famous  for  revivals,  and  for  speak- 
ing plain  words  to  sinners  from  the  pulpit  and  in 
private.  Indeed,  when  a  minister  of  another 
denomination  (Presbyterian,  Congregational, 
Baptist)  is  very  active  and  talks  with  unusual 
feeling,  and  goes  into  religious  work  with  his 
whole  soul,  people  say,  "  He  is  a  regular  Meth- 
odist." When  a  prayer-meeting  in  some  other 
cliurch  is  full  of  heartiness  and  spiritual  power, 
it  is  called  "a  Methodist  prayer-meeting."  Dr. 
Chalmers  said  the  true  thing  when  he  called 
Methodism  "  Christianity  in  earnest."  Method 
on  fire  is  always  full  of  power.  We  glorify  sys- 
tem, but  we  seek  the  Spirit  also. 

Earnest  Christians  go  so  far  over  to  the  right 
and  safe  side  that  every  body  knows  where  to 
find  them  on  those  questions  concerning  which 
there  is  no  specific  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord,"  but 
which  are  left  to  the  judgment  of  true  souls 
and  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  for  the  neighbor's 
good.  They  say,  "Don't  let  us  tamper  with 
things  in  which  may  lurk  evil  to  weak  or  im- 
periled brethren."  Therefore  genuine  Method- 
ists do  not  patronize  the  theater,  attend  dances, 


82  OuK  Own  Church. 

or  play  cards.  If  a  Methodist  does  such  things, 
every  body  discounts  him.  Even  worldly  people 
say  of  him,  "  That's  out  of  place  in  a  Meth- 
odist." And  all  this  is  not  because  Methodists 
are  narrow,  but  because  they  are  broad  and 
tender-hearted  and  want  to  help  and  not  hinder 
the  true  upward  progress  of  society.  They  want 
to  be  uncompromising,  positive,  and  loyal  to 
the  highest  life  of  love  and  service.  It  is  a 
grand  thing  to  be  decided.  There  are  rest  and 
strength  and  joy  in  decision. 

All  Methodists  do  not  attain  this  standard. 
That  is  a  sad  fact.  But  thousands  and  tens  of 
thousands  do,  and  this  is  the  idea  and  spirit  of 
the  Church-development  known  as  Methodism, 
and  toward  it  we  all  should  aspire,  and  for  it  we 
should  woik  ;  all  of  us ;  always  and  in  all  places. 
This  is  our  ideal. 

My  young  reader,  are  you  an  earnest  Chris- 
tian ?  This  is  the  great  question.  And  here 
are  test-questions  which  may  aid  you  in  giving 
answer : 

Is  religious  truth  a  real  thing  in  your  life? 
Does  it  move  you  to  think  and  ask  questions,  and 


Earnest  Christians.  83 

wonder  and  desire  to  know,  and  to  be  troubled 
when  you  are  uncertain,  and  to  be  uncomfortable 
when  you  think  how  far  you  are  from  the  life 
your  religious  ideas  require  you  to  live  ? 

Do  you  believe  in  God,  and  in  Jesus 
Christ,  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  in  eternal 
life? 

Do  you  know  (with  a  knowledge  that  takes 
hold  of  you)  that  you  are  a  sinner  against  God's 
law,  and  that  you  can  never  make  amends  for 
your  past  sins,  and  never  undo  what  evil  you 
have  done  by  any  possible  good  you  may  do  ? 

Do  you  belie\^e  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only 
hope  you  can  have— Jesus  Christ  the  mediator 
between  God  and  man — Jesus  Christ  who  be- 
came flesh  and  died  and  rose  from  the  dead  and 
is  now  in  the  heavenly  places  ?  Do  you  believe 
this  with  your  heart  ? 

Do  you  give  yourself  to  Him  of  your  own 
will,  with  a  glad  heart,  to  be  his — his  servant, 
his  disciple,  his  friend,  his  brother?  Do  you 
leave  your  case  with  him  as  a  boy  involved  in 
debt  leaves  his  affairs  in  the  hands  of  his  father, 
who  has  promised  to  look  after  every  thing  and 


84  OuK  Own  Chukch. 

settle  every  outstanding  account?  Do  you  leave 
your  case  with  Jesus  Christ  as  a  sick  man  who 
has  "given  up  all  hope"  in  himself,  leaves  his 
case  with  the  new  physician  who  has  come — a 
man  of  great  skill  and  wide  fame?  Do  you 
turn  yourself  over  to  Jesus  Christ  as  a  voyager 
across  the  Atlantic  suri-enders  himself  to  steamer 
and  captain — depending  upon  them  every  hour 
of  his  journey  ? 

Is  all  this  faith  and  surrender  practical?  And 
is  it  steady  ?  Does  it  hold  good  only  when  you 
"  feel  good  ? "  or  is  it  like  an  honest  man's  bar- 
gain— firm  through  thick  and  thin,  in  sun  and 
storm,  in  gloom  and  gladness,  in  winter  and 
summer?  Are  you  a  pledged  Christian  all  the 
time  and  every-where  ?  Are  you  enlisted — a 
new  but  a  true  recruit  in  the  army  ?  Asleep, 
awake,  elated,  depressed,  praised,  hated  —  are 
you  all  the  time,  all  the  same,  so  far  as  purpose 
and  profession  are  concerned  ?  Do  "  all  the 
folks"  know  it?  Are  you  not  ashamed  of  it? 
Do  you  show  your  colors  and  stand  by  them  ? 
A  great  deal  of  religion  is  "  warfare "  in  which 


Earnest  Chkistians.  85 

without  feeling  but  "by  faith."  It  is  like  school- 
life  in  which  one  is  enrolled  and  assigned  to  his 
place  and  appointed  to  his  lessons,  and  must  go 
on  steadily  wliether  his  soul  is  intiamed  with 
ambition  and  hope,  or  discouraged  by  poor 
health,  dull  intellect,  and  difficult  tasks.  The 
true  student  simply  holds  fast  and  goes  on. 
The  true  disciple  in  the  school  of  Christ  does 
the  same.  He  holds  fast  and  goes  on.  Do 
you  ? 

Do  you  put  yourself  into  training  as  athletes 
do— going  through  the  required  drill  to  give 
suppleness  to  the  joints,  strength  to  the  mus- 
cles, and  steadiness  to  the  nerves  ?  Do  you  put 
yourself  into  right  conditions  ?  Do  you  compel 
yourself  to  do  your  duty  in  this  respect  whether 
you  feel  like  it  or  not  ?  Do  you  pray  every 
day?  Do  you  every  day  read  a  portion  of 
Scripture  ?  Do  you  attend  prayer-meeting  and 
class-meeting  and  Sunday-school  and  preaching? 
Do  you  help  people?  Do  you  give  of  your 
means  to  advance  the  Gospel  ?  Are  you  a  good 
student  in  the  art  of  spiritual  living  ?  Are  you 
a  good  athlete  in  Christian  life  ? 


86  Our  Own  Church. 

Do  jou  keep  in  mind  everj-wliere  your 
religious  relations  and  professions  and  respon- 
sibilities ?  Do  JOU  refuse  to  do  "  worldly " 
tliino-s  because  of  tlieir  influence  on  others  and 
on  yourself,  and  because  of  the  place  you  hold 
in  the  Church?  Are  you  willing  that  every 
body  should  know  that  you  are  a  Christian  ? 
And  are  you,  therefore,  willing  to  be  pro- 
nounced "  Puritanic  "  and  "  Methodistic  "  and 
''over-particular?"  Can  you  bear  the  "shame" 
of  the  Gospel  —  in  the  eyes  of  worldly  and 
frivolous  people  ? 

Do  you  find  will  and  life  obeying  conscience  ? 
Do  you  gain  victories  over  the  flesh  ?  Do  you 
conquer  temptation?  Do  yon  avoid  secret  sing 
— sins  of  the  flesh,  sins  of  the  passions,  sins  of 
the  imagination,  sins  of  envy  and  pride  and 
temper?  If  you  cannot  "feel  happy  as  some 
do,"  can  you  conquer  self  and  sensuous  society 
and  Satan  ?  Does  the  Gospel  truth  give  you 
principle,  and  does  this  Gospel  principle  rule 
your  daily  life  ? 

"When  you  go  wrong  do  you  at  once  go  back 
to  Christ,  and  ask  his  forgiveness  and  his  help  ? 


Earnest  Chkistians.  87 

Do  joii  seek  to  please  him  and  to  liaTe  peace  in 
him  ?     This  is  your  privilege. 

Do  you  ever  have  a  "  sweet  persuasion ''  that 
you  are  a  child  of  God  ?  E^o  audible  voice  tells 
you  so.  No  visible  sign  assures  you.  But  is 
there  a  sweet,  restful  feeling  in  your  heart  that 
seems  to  sing, 

"  My  God  is  reconciled, 

His  pardoning  voice  I  hear, 
He  owns  rae  for  his  child, 

I  can  no  longer  fear ; 
With  confidence  I  now  draw  nigh, 
And  Father,  Abba,  Father  cry?" 

Are  you  called  by  a  voice  within  to  lines  of 
duty  ?  Do  you  obey  it  ?  Do  you  love  to  obey 
it  ?  Is  your  life  guided  by  an  inner  leading — 
a  word  in  the  heart  inspired  bv  the  word 
of  God  ? 

Do  conviction  of  Bible  truth  and  desire  to  be 
a  Christian  and  surrender  to  Christ  bloom  into 
all-absorbing  love  for  God  and  man?  Does  a 
strange  joy  sometimes  fill  your  heart — as  the 
warm  sun  and  sweet  fragrance  of  roses  fill  a 
June  day?    Can  you  rejoice  in  tlie  Lord?    Does 


88  Our  Own  Chuech. 

heaven  seem  a  glorious  reality  to  you?  And 
is  earth  glorious  because  of  the  divine  life  you 
lead  ?  Have  you  seasons  when  you  seem  to  live 
in  the  land  of  Beulah,  with  perfect  rest  and  the 
assurance  of  hope  ?  And  can  you  understand 
the  Bible  revelations  about  heaven  because  you 
have  in  your  own  heart  a  taste  of  heaven  ? 

Dear  young  Christian,  all  these  things  are  pos- 
sible to  you.  But  remember  that  the  triumphs 
of  victory  are  preceded  by  the  awkwardness  of 
the  drill,  the  fatigue  of  the  march,  the  weari- 
ness of  the  eamp,  and  the  perils  of  the  battle- 
field. Enlist,  drill,  endure,  fight,  wait — and  in 
the  end  wear  the  crown  of  victory  !     Sing : 

"Thy  saints  in  all  this  glorions  war, 
Shall  conquer  though  they  die; 

They  see  the  triumph  from  afar — 
By  faith  they  bring  it  nigh  I " 


The  Holy   Communion. 


■VIII. 
THE  HOLY  COMMUNION. 

"In  remembrance  of  me," 

EYERY  three  months,  or  perliaps  every 
month,  what  you  and  many  call  the  "  sacra- 
ment" is  administered  in  your  church.  You  call 
the  day  of  its  administration  "  Communion  Sun- 
day." By  the  sacrament  you  mean  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  although  that  is  no  more  a 
sacrament  than  is  the  sacrament  of  baptism.  The 
word  "  sacramentum  "  among  the  Eomans  signi- 
fied the  oath  of  loyalty  to  his  country  which  the 
Roman  soldier  assumed.  Some  people  speak  of 
this  service  as  the  "  communion,"  and  in  the  En- 
glish Church  it  is  called  the  "Holy  Communion." 
The  word  "communion"  is  from  the  Greek 
word  which  means  fellowship,  and  it  implies  a 
communion  or  fellowship  between  Christ  and 
his  people,  and  between  the  people  themselves. 
Paul  speaks  of  the  "  communion  of  the  blood  of 
Christ "  and  of  "  the  communion  of  the  body  of 


90  OuE  Own  Church. 

Christ" — symbols  and  means  through  which 
nnion  with  Christ  and  union  among  believers 
are  indicated  and  promoted.  This  sacrament  is 
also  called  the  "  eucharist,"  from  a  word  which 
means  thanksf^ivins:.  It  is  called  "  the  feast " — 
that  is,  a  feast  of  those  having  the  grace  it  com- 
memorates. Thus  we  see  that  this  solemn  and 
impressive  ordinance,  or  service,  has  several 
names.  The  service  itself  is  vastly  more  im- 
portant than  the  name,  and  still  more  important 
is  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  observed. 

Jesus  instituted  this  feast.  It  was  on  the 
night  before  his  crucifixion.  His  disciples  were 
filled  with  uncertainty  and  with  sadness.  They 
did  not  know  all  that  was  to  happen.  His  words, 
his  looks,  his  voice  foreshadowed  a  great  sorrow, 
and  there  in  the  upper  room,  in  the  solemn  hour 
of  night,  he  ordained  the  supper  you  celebrate. 
"Do  this,"  he  said,  ''in  remembrance  of  me," 
and  Paul  gives  a  most  impressive  account  of  it 
in  his  letter  to  the  Corinthians,  where  he  says 
(E.  Y.)  :  "  For  I  received  of  the  Lord  that  which 
also  I  delivered  unto  you,  how  that  the  Lord 
Jesus  in  the  night  in  which  he  was  betrayed 


The  Holy  Communion.  91 

took  bread ;  and  when  he  had  given  tlianks,  he 
brake  it,  and  said,  This  is  my  body,  which  is 
broken  for  you  :  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me. 
In  Hke  manner  also  the  cup,  after  supper,  say- 
ing. This  cup  is  the  new  covenant  in  my  blood : 
this  do,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remembrance  of 
me.  For  as  often  as  ye  eat  tliis  bread,  and  drink 
the  cup,  ye  proclaim  the  Lord's  death  till  he 
come."  If  you  care  at  all  for  Jesus  Christ,  his 
person,  his  character,  his  work,  his  cause,  you 
will  be  interested  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  you 
will  be  willing,  if  not  eager,  to  share  in  it ;  and 
you  should  be  anxious  to  know  all  that  is  meant 
by  the  act.  The  holy  sacrament  has  been  greatly 
abused  by  the  ritualistic  and  Romish  Churches, 
they  giving  a  peculiar  significance  to  it  which 
is  not  justified  by  any  thing  that  is  spoken  in  the 
word  of  God.  And  sometimes  they  make  it  a 
species  of  idolatry,  and,  to  a  great  degree,  render 
it  void  by  their  superstitions. 

The  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  seems  to 
be  a  very  little  and,  apparently,  unimportant 
thing,  and  yet  little  things  may  represent  very 
great  things.    A  kiss  may  be  a  pledge  of  perpetual 


92  Our  Own  Chukch. 

love.  The  simple  bowing  of  the  head  in  legal 
assent  may  seal  a  covenant  that  no  human  power 
can  break.  The  flag  of  your  nation,  which  may 
be  put  into  your  pocket,  represents  power  and 
wealth  and  courage  and  a  wonderful  history. 
A  plain  gold  ring  put  on  your  finger  by  a  dying 
mother,  as  she  asks  you  to  think  of  her  at  the 
twilight,  may  not  be  worth  much  in  dollars  and 
cents,  but  no  money  could  buy  it  from  you. 
Her  dying  request  may  not  involve  much — a 
simple  look  at  the  ring  in  act  of  remembrance — 
but  it  brings  tears  to  your  eyes  and  fills  your 
heart  with  memories,  and  you  live  more  care- 
fully because  of  it  all.  When  Jesus  withdrew 
his  physical  presence  from  earth  he  left  a  monu- 
ment, a  memorial,  of  that  j)resence  here.  He 
established  an  observance.  It  is  a  very  simple 
thing — this  eating  of  bread  and  drinking  of  wine. 
There  is  no  great  "feast"  in  it.  It  satisfies 
neither  hunger  nor  thirst.  It  is  the  meaning  in 
it,  and  not  the  matter  of  it,  that  gives  it  real 
value.  Jesus  did  not  tell  his  disciples  how  it 
was  to  be  observed.  He  gave  no  particular  and 
minute  directions  about  the  details.    He  did  not 


The   Holy  Communion.  93 

specify  any  particular  posture  of  body.  Jesus 
Christ  never  cared  for  forms.  He  never  cares 
for  the  mode  of  taking  the  Lord's  Supper  or  of 
receiving  baptism.  He  denounced  over-careful- 
ness about  sucli  little  matters.  His  whole  Gos- 
pel is  opposed  to  such  carefulness.  The  Romish 
Church  has  put  pagan  rites  into  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  Supper,  has  turned  the  service  into 
superstitious  observance,  and  has  thereby  lost 
the  sense  and  sweetness  and  power  of  it ;  indeed, 
destroying  its  whole  character.  Jesus  Christ 
instituted  a  simple  sacred  souvenir  of  his  life, 
his  words,  his  death,  and  makes  it  a  means  of 
grace  to  all  those  who  humbly  and  believingly 
receive  it. 

'Now,  although  the  observance  of  the  com- 
munion is  apparently  a  little  thing,  it  is  really 
a  great  thing,  full  of  meaning.  Let  us  see 
what  we  do  every  time  we  partake  of  the  sac- 
rament. 

The  act  recalls  a  wonderful  history.  It  sug- 
gests him  who  appointed  it ;  his  life,  deeds, 
words,  spirit — which  made  the  most  wonderful 
career  that  the  world  has  ever  witnessed.     It 


94  Our  Own  Chuech. 

points  the  whole  world  to  a  record  of  facts.  It 
points  this  age  of  unbelief  to  facts — not  the  less 
real  because  remote  as  to  time  and  place  of  their 
occurrence.  It  is  therefore  an  act  of  solemn 
declaration  to  the  world  of  the  reality  of  a  his- 
tory which  more  radically  and  directly  affects 
the  world  than  any  other  chapter  in  it.  Is 
it  useless  to  celebrate  the  Fourth  of  July  ? 
The  history  recalled  by  the  Communion  is  w^orth 
more  to  man  than  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. Christ  by  his  life  and  death  gave 
freedom  to  the  w4iole  race,  and  his  life  itself  was 
wonderful,  beautiful,  tender,  unselfish,  and  full 
of  heroism. 

The  act  obeys  the  command  of  a  loving  friend. 
Christ  loved  man  as  man.  He  loved  him  even 
unto  death.  On  the  eve  of  the  greatest  display 
of  love  that  the  universe  ever  saw  he  asked  all  who 
believe  in  him  to  commemorate  for  all  time  that 
love  and  that  death.  This  is  a  small  thing. 
Shall  we  think  on  Sabbath  evening  of  a  moth- 
er's dying  request  and  forget  his  command 
whose  love  is  deeper,  more  enduring,  and  worth 
more  to  us  than  a  mother's  love? 


The-  Holy   Communion.  95 

The  act  gives  us  the  ojpjportunity  to  make 
public  our  affection  for  Christ  before  the  world. 
It  is  a  way  of  declaring  to  the  world  our  alle- 
giance to  Christ.  It  is  a  way  of  showing  our 
colors.  It  says  to  our  fellow-Christians,  "  I  am 
one  of  your  company  ;  I  want  to  be  associated 
with  you  rather  than  with  the  world."  It  says 
to  our  associates  in  school,  shop,  and  society,  "  I 
am  one  who  believes  in  Jesus  Christ  and  his 
Church.  I  am  trying  to  acquire  a  character  like 
his."  It  is  a  way  of  winning  others  to  Christ, 
to  the  Bible,  to  the  Church,  and  saying,  "  I  be- 
lieve with  all  my  heart  in  all  those  things."  It 
is  an  act  in  connection  with  which  the  grace  of 
Christ  is  given.  It  is  a  sign  and  a  means.  It 
is  not  a  loadstone  in  which  power  was  deposited 
long  ago,  a  sort  of  talisman,  as  the  ritualistic 
and  Koraish  Churclies  teach,  but  it  is  a  present 
means  of  grace,  to  be  received  with  faith  and 
thus  to  be  made  a  channel  of  spiritual  power. 

The  act  has  hope  in  it.  It  looks  forward  as 
well  as  backward  :  forward  to  his  coming  again 
to  the  world ;  forward  to  onr  coming  to  him ; 
forward  to  the  feast  of  his  saints  in  heaven. 


96  Our  Own  Chuesh. 

It  is  an  act  in  wliicli  all  Christendom  joins i 
a  service  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church.  All  de- 
nominations observe  it.  It  is  a  bond  of  union ; 
union  in  testimony  to  the  facts  of  history ;  union 
in  obedience  to  the  command  of  Christ ;  union 
in  hope  of  everlasting  communion ;  union  in  de- 
votion to  the  person  of  our  Lord. 

It  is  an  act  which  the  Church  has  always  per- 
formed. It  is  an  ancient  service,  antedating 
cathedrals  and  castles.  It  allies  us  to  the  first 
century,  and  to  that  niglit  in  which  Christ  insti- 
tuted it. 

It  is  an  act  in  wliich  each  particular  Church 
is  interested.  Ever  since  your  Church  stood  it 
has  witnessed  this  ordinance.  The  old  saints 
kept  this  feast.  The  old  ministers  administered 
it.  What  glorious  times  have  been  witnessed  as 
bowed  multitudes  have  received  the  bread  and 
wine  in  recognition  of  their  Kedeemer,  in  con- 
fession of  their  faith,  and  in  solemn  covenant  of 
service ! 

The  act  has  a  family  value.  Your  father  and 
mother,  your  dearest  friends,  wherever  they  are, 
observe  it.     Are  they  absent?     You  meet  them 


The   Holy  Communion.  97 

at  the  table  of  the  Lord.  Nothing  can  be  more 
perfect  as  a  bond  of  sympathy  than  this  habit  Of 
observing  the  communion  on  given  days  wher- 
ever you  live  and  wherever  you  wander. 

The  act  has,  above  all,  a  personal  value.  It  is 
a  way  of  personal  approach  to  God ;  of  confession, 
of  renewed  consecration.  It  helps  the  soul  to 
take  a  new  step.  It  gives  grace  to  resist  temp- 
tation. 

When  we  have  in  the  observance  of  the  sac- 
rament of  the  Lord's  Supper  recalled  the  won- 
derful history  of  Christ,  obeyed  his  command  as 
the  command  of  a  loving  friend,  embraced  the 
opportunity  for  making  public  our  devotion  to 
Christ,  looked  forward  with  hope,  looked  around 
the  globe  with  charity,  looked  backward  with 
reverent  memory,  and  felt  all  the  sacredness  as- 
sociated with  our  own  Church,  our  own  family, 
and  our  own  spiritual  lives — when  we  have  done 
all  these  things  there  still  remains  a  deeper  and 
more  important  truth  which  lies  at  the  very 
foundation  of  this  most  sacred  institution.  The 
fact  which  gives  real  significance  to  the  em- 
blems, and  real  value  to  the  service,  is  that  atone- 


% 


9S  Our  Own  Church. 

ment  which  Christ  made  for  us  by  his  death, 
wtich  we  commemorate  as  we  receive  the  broken 
bread  and  the  sacred  wine. 

The  doctrine  of  the  atonement  is  a  profound 
mystery.  What  great  truths  are  involved  in  it 
— truths  relating  to  God  and  to  Christianity  and 
to  God's  government  over  men — our  human  in- 
tellects can  never  fathom.  Angels  desire  to 
look  into  these  things.  Figures  of  speech  are 
employed  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  w^iich  express 
in  the  most  emphatic  way  the  importance  of  the 
sacrifice  of  Christ  upon  the  cross.  We  were  as 
men  in  debt,  with  no  resources  and  no  possibil- 
ity of  finding  resources  sufficient  to  cancel  that 
debt.  And  lo.  One  came  who  paid  it  all !  And 
by  his  death,  in  some  mysterious  way,  the  price 
was  paid  and  our  debt  absolutely  canceled.  We 
were  as  men  in  bondage,  with  no  j)ower  to  break 
the  bars  and  chains  which  held  us,  and  no  arm 
of  earthly  friends  strong  enough,  and  no  author- 
ity competent,  to  set  us  free.  But  the  Lord 
Jesus  made  our  release  a  blessed  possibility. 
These  great  thoughts  should  come  into  our 
minds  as  we  receive  the  lioly  communion. 


The   Holy  Communion.  99 

How  it  is  possible  for  God  to  be  just  and  jet 
justify  the  ungodly  is  a  problem  which  law- 
makers cannot  solve.     How  to  sustain  the  dio*- 

o 

nity  and  honor  of  the  divine  government,  and 
yet  to  extend  the  scepter  of  grace  to  an  offend- 
ing subject — this  is  a  mystery.  Without  at- 
tempting to  explain  it  we  receive  the  teachings 
of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  simply  accept  them. 
Christ  died  to  sustain  the  glory  and  purity  of 
the  law,  and  yet  to  make  possible  to  every  one 
pardon  and  peace  and  immortal  blessedness.  It 
is  this  doctrine,  clothed  in  mystery,  that  we  bring 
before  our  minds  as  we  bend  in  reverence  and 
awe  at  the  communion  table.  He  died  that  we 
might  not  die.  He  poured  out  his  blood  as  a 
ransom  for  our  sins,  and  through  his  obedience 
our  obedience,  although  offenders,  is  made  pos- 
sible. We  are  in  danger  of  being  shocked  by 
the  strangeness  of  this  doctrine.  We  cannot 
comprehend  it,  and  therefore  we  are  in  danger 
of  repelling  it.  But,  if  God's  word  teaches  an}^ 
thing,  it  teaches  this  relation  of  the  soul  to  Christ, 
and  conditions  spiritual  life  upon  the  acceptance 
of  him  as  one  crucified  for  our  sins. 


100  Our  Own  Chukch. 

If  our  readers  stumble  at  these  great  and  mys- 
terious truths  let  them  move  cautiously  before 
they  foster  doubt.  With  the  great  law  of  sacri- 
Hce  and  substitution  we  are  familiar  in  life. 
Every  day  we  see  voluntary  suffering  for  the 
sake  of  others.  Every  day  we  see  the  innocent 
suffer  for  the  guilty ;  and  the  highest  joy  of  the 
human  soul  is  when,  through  self-abnegation,  it 
dares  to  put  itself  in  the  place  of  another,  and 
bear  burdens  and  suffer  grief  that  through  it 
others  may  have  strength  and  gladness.  Christ 
came  to  fight  the  powers  of  evil,  to  make  salva- 
tion possible,  to  open  the  gate  of  heaven  to  be- 
lievers; and  there  were  mysteries  wliich  no 
human  or  angelic  mind  can  fathom,  associated 
with  the  scene  of  Gethsemane  and  the  long 
hours  of  darkness  and  agony  on  Calvary.  He 
went  down  into  deep  gulfs  of  woe  that  we  might 
have  pathways  prepared  for  our  feet  from  earth 
to  heaven.  He  suffered  that  we  might  be  saved. 
And  it  behooves  us  to  learn  this  lesson  of  self- 
sacrifice  ourselves,  that  what  the  Christ  did  for 
us  we  may  do  for  our  fellow-men. 

JSTaturally    we    shrink    from    suffering.     "We 


The   Holy  Communion.  101 

want  what  we  call  "good  times,"  "happy  days," 
no  trouble,  much  pleasure.  And  jet  do  we  not 
know  that  in  these  days  of  good  fortune  and  suc- 
cess no  real  peace  is  found  ?  Joy  comes  in  the 
way  of  sorrow.  Some  of  the  happiest  people  in 
this  world  are  the  people  who  are  deprived  of 
what  we  call  "  worldly  comforts."  The  writer 
of  these  lines  once  wrote  a  little  story  about  a 
boy  whom  he  called  Ilartwell  Harrington.  JN'ow 
Hartwell  has  liad  every  thing  that  the  world  can 
give,  and  yet  there  come  to  him  seasons  of  deep 
and  bitter  depression.  What  Hartwell  needs  is 
the  spirit  of  the  self-sacrificing  Christ.  What 
he  needs  is  to  know  by  a  personal  experience  the 
joy  of  loving  self-surrender.  A  correspondent, 
who  has  evidently  tasted  all  the  meaning  of  this 
truth,  wrote  the  author :  "  I  am  truly  sorry  for 
Hartwell  Harrington.  ...  If  he  has  '  every  ad- 
vantage of  an  earthly  sort,'  love,  friendship,  be- 
longs to  the  Church,  and  is  a  Christian,  and  the 
religious  truths  which  he  usually  accepts  cannot 
drive  away  these  times  of  depression  and  dis- 
couragement, it  may  be  that  he  would  gain  help 
and  strength  were  he  to  visit  homes  where  are 


102  OuK  Own  Church. 

anxious  business  cares  over  against  the  'sure 
success ;'  shattered  health  instead  of  his  chief 
temporal  blessings  ;  anxieties  for  future  necessi- 
ties instead  of  an  abundance ;  children  battling 
with  the  vicissitudes  of  life ;  no  ability  to  take 
one  step  in  the  future  without  the  'unfailing' 
hand ;  where  there  are  days  when  '  cares  like  a 
wild  deluge '  press  from  within  and  from  without, 
and  yet  when  the  sun  always  shines.  Hartwell 
would  find  in  such  homes  no  remembrance  of 
dark  days,  but  he  would  find  a  tear-stained  spot 
with  'shut  door'  where  'He  is  faithful  that 
promised.'  I  wish  that  he  might  be  comforted, 
and  remember  that  '  a  child  of  God  praying  to 
the  Father  is  mightier  than  a  warrior  in  armor 
of  steel.' " 

This  unknown  correspondent  reveals  the  deep- 
est root-principle  of  Cliristian  character — a  per- 
fect trust  in  a  Father's  care.  This  conscious- 
ness is  reached  through  the  ministry  of  the 
Spirit,  by  the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  One  living 
for  others,  and  having  sorrow  and  yet  always 
rejoicing,  knows  something  even  in  this  life  of 
the  mystery  which  is  involved  in  the  great  sac- 


The   Holy  Communion.  103 

rifice  which  we  commemorate  at  the  table  of 
the  Lord. 

Dear  young  reader,  understand  the  Holy  Sac- 
rament. Prize  it.  ^ever  omit  it.  Prepare  for 
its  intelligent  observance.  And  as  you  draw 
near  to  tlie  altar  come  w4th  confession,  with 
prayer,  with  faith,  with  covenant  purpose ;  re- 
gardless of  mere  feeling,  give  yourself  anew  to 
the  service  of  Christ  and  of  his  Church. 


104  OuK  Own  Chcjrch.    . 


TRUE    CHURCH    LOYALTY. 

"Whatsoever  tilings  .  .  .  are  just." 

MR.  A is  a  Methodist.  lie  belongs  to 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ;  that  is, 
he  did  for  years  belong  to  that  Church.  He 
was,  in  a  sense,  born  in  the  Church.  He  was 
baptized  and  trained  in  it.  He  joined  "  on 
probation."  He  and  his  family  attended  it 
regularly.  They  owned  a  pew  or  had  a  place  in 
church  which  they  called  their  own. 

Mr.  A moves  West.     He  lands  with  his 

family  in  a  little  western  town.  He  expects  to 
make  this  place  his  home  for  many  years,  per- 
haps for  the  rest  of  his  life.  He  does — to  his 
credit  be  it  recorded — look  up  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  town.  He  attends  its 
service  on  Sunday.  His  family  go  with  him. 
It  must  be  confessed  that  the  church  has  a 
dingy  look.     The  walls  are  somewhat  stained 


True  Chuech  Loyalty.  105 

with  water  from  a  leakj  roof.  Thej  are  bro- 
ken in  some  places,  and  well  smoked  up.  The 
windows  are  stained,  but  not  with  artistic  glass. 
And  there  are  cobwebs  in  sight.  The  church 
ought  not  to  have  this  forlorn  appearance — but 
it  does. 

The  people  are  not  a  fashionable-appearing 
set.  They  are  poor — the  most  of  them.  And 
the  preaching  is  not  brilliant.  The  pastor  is 
a  plain  man.  He  might  dress  better — if  his 
salary  were  larger.  Indeed,  on  his  limited  sal- 
ary he  might  afford  to  comb  his  hair  a  little 
more  carefally,  and  take  the  knots  out  of  his 
unnecessarily  long  beard.  One  would  not  be 
attracted  toward  him  for  any  reason  except  that 
he  seems  to  be  an  earnest  man  and  occupies  an 
important  position. 

Mr.  A is  not  pleased  with  church-build- 
ing, people,  preacher,  singing,  or  sermon.  "  It 
is  not  at  all  like  the  little  church"  he  left  in 
"  Eastern  New  York."  There  are,  all  through 
the  AYest,  churches  just  as  good,  and  people  just 
as  refined,  and  preachers  just  as  gentlemanly  as 
one  will  find  in  the  East.     But  Mr.  A hap 


106  Ouii  Own  Church. 

pened  to  strike  an  unfortunate  combination  of 
conservatism  and  coarseness. 

The  Sunday-school  is  like  the  church.     Little 

Tom  A didn't  like  the  fellows  in  his  class. 

Miss  Jennie  A was  "  disgusted   with  the 

^irls"  in  her  class,  and  John  A declared  he 

"  would  never  go  back  to  that  school."  And 
that  Sunday  evening  the  family  canvasses  the 
church  and  the  school,  the  people  and  the 
preacher — and  bad  grows  worse  as  they  contrast 
this  Sunday  with  last  Sunday.  They  find  more 
people  whom  they  don't  like,  and  recall  more 
people  in  the  old  church  whose  faces  they  miss. 

The  following  week  Mrs.  A and  Miss 

Jennie  receive  a  call  from  two  Presbyterian  la- 
dies, or  Congregational  ladies,  or  Baptist  ladies, 
perhaps.  These  ladies  have  heard,  of  course, 
that  the  A 's  are  Methodists.  Their  min- 
ister told  them  so.  And  he  also  told  them  to 
call.  "We  may  be  able  to  get  them  into  our 
Church,"  he  said.  The  uncatholic  and  imperti- 
nent suggestion  matures  into  a  deliberate  plan 
of  proselyting.  So  the  "  ladies  "  call  with  a 
purpose.    Conversation  is  opened  with  the  usual 


True  Chuech  Loyalty.  107 

society  questions  and  answers.  Then  come  allu- 
sions to  East  and  West,  to  our  town,  its  growth, 
its  schools,  its  churches ;  and  then  the  question 
blossoms  out,  "  What  church  will  you  attend  ? " 

"  We've  always  been  Methodists,"  answers 
Mrs.  A . 

"  O,  Methodists  !  Indeed  !  "  The  feigned 
surprise  is  a  fitting  opening  for  the  words  that 
follow:  "Well,  Methodists  are  a  very  good  sort 
of  people,  pious,  you  know,  and  all  tliat ;  but 
here  in  our  town  there  is  really  no  society 
among  the  Methodists.  They  are  a  poor  class. 
All  the  best  people  go  to  our  church;  and  if 
you  want  to  get  your  daughters  into  good  soci- 
ety, you  will  have  to  come  to  us.     Dr.  , 

Judge ,  the 's,  and  the 's  all  go  to 

our  church,  you  know ;  and  Mr. ,  our  min- 
ister, is  an  elegant  man,  refined,  and  good  com- 
pany, and  a  lovely  preacher." 

The  ''  call " — a  double  call,  of  doubtful  honor 
— tells  on  the  susceptible  and  discontented  wom- 
en. "  Society"  has  wonderful  power.  Then 
the  girls  tease  mother  and  mother  teases  fathei', 
and,  af^er  more  calls  and  more  appeals  and  more 


108  Our  Own  Church. 

misrepresentations,  backbones  bend,  and  the 
Church  letters  go  into  the  greedy  grasp  of  a 
minister  who  calls  himself  a  gentleman,  and 
yet  deliberately  laid  a  plan  to  defraud  the  local 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  a  family  to 
which  it  is  entitled,  and  to  fill  a  pew  in  his  own 
church  with  people  allured,  not  by  the  love  of 
Christ,  but  beguiled  through  a  carnal  desire  for 
social  standing  in  the  community.  Thus  "  soci- 
ety" triumphs.  The  low  standards  of  taste  and 
of  conscience,  on  the  part  of  the  proselyting 
pastor  and  his  committee,  have  succeeded.  A 
cowardly  family  drops  the  "  cross,"  and,  regard- 
less of  doctrine,  usages,  antecedents,  memory, 
goes  into  a  "  society  church." 

The  self-respect  and  religious  tone  of  the 
whole  family  are,  of  necessity,  lowered.  Instead 
of  giving,  they  receive;  instead  of  leading,  they 
are  led ;  and  more  than  once  they  are  laughed 
at  by  the  very  people  who  took  them  such  easy 
captives.  "  They  were  glad  enough  to  come  to 
us,"  they  say.     "  And  why  ? "  they  ask. 

There  are  some  otlier  things  to  be  said  on  this 
subject.     I  do  not  excuse  that  little  Methodist 


True  Church  Loyalty,  109 

Episcopal  Churcli.  Indeed,  there  are  some  severe 
things  tliat  should  be  said  to  its  members  and  pas- 
tor. In  fact,  it  is  a  slovenly  church.  Its  walls  and 
windows  and  cobwebs  are  a  disgrace  to  it.  It 
needs  a  gospel  of  soap  and  shingles  and  glass  and 
kalsomining.  Its  pastor  ought  to  be  ashamed  of 
himself.  He  has  a  slovenly  church  because  he 
is  a  sloven.  I  wish  John  ^Yesley  or  our  "  Church 
Extension  Society "  could  take  him  in  hand  for 
an  hour.  Xo  wonder  he  has  such  a  cliurch ! 
In  this  day  we  should  have  clean  churches,  con- 
structed and  decorated  according  to  a  true  art, 
ventilated  perfectly,  and  warmed  comfortably. 
"No  parlor  should  be  more  pleasant  and  inviting 
than  the  house  of  the  Lord,  whither  we  go  on 
Sabbath-days  to  serve  him  and  meet  his  saints. 

"When  a  Methodist  Episcopal  church  drops 
into  the  hands  of  boors,  and  is  kept  as  barns  are 
kept,  it  must  not  wonder  if  its  tone  repels  peo- 
ple, and  if  even  loyal  Methodists  of  taste  and 
refinement  find  in  the  case  severe  and  unneces- 
sary temptations  to  unfaithfulness. 

Again  :  "Why  did  not  earnest  Methodist  Epis- 
copal women   call  early  in   the  week  on   Mr. 


110  Our  Own  Ciiukch. 

A 's  family,  and  show  the  best  spirit  that 


dwelt  in  the  Church,  and  invite  the  co-operation 
it  needed  from  the  new  comers?  Why  stand  ofl 
and  give  rival  congregations  a  chance  to  tempt 
our  own  people  ?  Why  d'd  not  the  pastor  have 
his  forces  organized  and  at  work  ?  That  church 
needs  a  new  preacher,  and  a  new  board  of  stew- 
ards, and  leaders,  and  trustees.  What  a  pity  it 
could  not  have  had  a  new  member  who  might 
have  helped  it  up! 

But  all  this  does  not  excuse  Mr.  A and 

lais  family.  Concerning  them  something  more 
remains  to  be  said.     We  can  afford  to  look  into 

his  antecedents.    Mr.  A is  a  good,  solid  man, 

and  might  be  a  very  useful  man.  His  father  was 
much  less  of  a  man.  He  was  well  "  down  "  so- 
cially, was  poor,  much  despised  by  many  people 
in  the  town  in  which  he  alternately  worked  and 
lounged.  He  was  much  pitied  by  others.  He 
had  no  standing  financially,  socially,  morally. 
Cue  day,  fifty  years  ago,  a  Methodist  preacher 
dismounted,  fastened  his  horse  to  a  post,  and 

entered  the  little  house  where  A 's  father 

lived.     A was  not  himself  born  then.     The 


Tkue  Chuech  Loyalty.  Ill 

preacher  spoke  plain  words  to  the  man  and  his 
wife ;  told  them  (what  no  pulpit  or  preacher 
had  ever  told  them  before)  that  God  loves  all 
men  and  that  Christ  died  for  all  men  and  that 
all  have  a  genuine  offer  of  eternal  life  ;  that 
through  repentance  and  faith  and  good  works 
a  sinner  maj  be  blessed  and  be  a  blessing ;  that 
through  faith  he  receives  and  through  good 
works  he  proves  and  uses  God's  grace ;  that  a 
guilty  sold  may  have  pardon  for  the  past,  peace 
ard  power  and  hope  in  the  present,  and  in  the 
ife  to  come  fellowship  with  God.  The  preacher 
/)roved  all  this  by  the  words  of  the  Holy  Bible 
which  he  held  in  his  hand.     He  was  so  earnest, 

so  faithful,  so  persistent  that  old  A and  his 

wife  were  impressed,  and  they  kneeled  down 
and  prayed — the  preacher  leading.  Then  they 
sought  diligently  the  promised  "blessing,"  and 
in  the  little  old  kitchen  and  sitting-room  and 

parlor  (for  in  A 's  house  they  were  one  and 

the  same)  there  opened  out  a  new  life,  a  new 
love,  a  new  joy      The  preacher  often  came  to 

A 's.     He  preached  there,  organized  a  class, 

and  started  a  little  prayer-meeting  for  Thursday 


112  OuE  Own  Church. 

evenings.     And  wliat  glad  days  those  were  in 

the   little   cottage  !      A was   a   Christian, 

through  and  through,  and  every  body  acknowl- 
edged it.  He  drank  no  more.  lie  gave  up  bad 
companions.  He  lived  honestly,  humbly,  up- 
rightly, and  was  respected  more  and  more  by 
his  neighbors,  who  would  say  to  each  other, 
"  The  Methodists  did  it.''  But  for  that  Meth- 
odist preacher  and  the  Churcb  that  sent  him  to 

old  A 's  house,  young  A would  have 

been  born  into  an  atmosphere  of  tobacco  and 
rum  and  family  jars  and  social  degradation.    As 

it  was,  thanks  to  "  the  Methodists,"  A was 

born  into  a  house  of  prayer  and  spiritual  song 
and  good-will,  where  "class"  was  held  and  ser- 
mons were  preached.  His  family  was  poor,  but 
it  was  respectable — and  this  respectability  was 

owing  to  the  Methodists.     A grew  up  to 

manhood,  held  to  virtue,  industry,  and  economy 
by  his  father's  and  mother's  life  and  example, 
and  led,  through  a  Methodist  preacher's  influ- 
ence, to  seek  a  better  education,  and  surrounded 
in  his  school  days  by  Methodist  friends,  who 
stood    by    and    encouraged    him.      His   wife's 


True  Chuech  Lov^lty.  Ho 

history  is  very  much  the  same  as  his  own.  And 
when  they  got  off  the  train  to  reside  at  the  little 
western  village,  all  the  money  and  start  and 
standing  and  taste  and  education  they  had  they 
owed  to  Metliodism — to  a  Methodist  preachei', 
to  a  Methodist  mother,  to  a  Methodist  father,  to 
a  Methodist  school,  to  Methodist  society. 

Now  Mr.  A ,  who  has  been  made  all  that 

he  is  by  the  Church,  has  a  chance  to  pay  ba^^k  a 
part  of  his  gain,  to  lift  up  the  Church,  help  it 
on,  improve,  beautify,  st'engthen  it. 

What  did  he  do  ?  Alas  for  the  power  of 
"  society  " — and  of  the  "  world  ! " 

Mr.  A might  have  remained  in  his  own 

communion ;  given  his  money  where  it  was 
needed ;  put  liis  taste  into  walls  and  windows ; 
put  his  knowledge  and  tact  into  Sunday-school 
and  official  board ;  started  a  social  center  within 
his  own  Church  which  would  have  attracted  and 
confirmed  others  and  given  his  own  Church  a 
standing  in  the  town.  He  would  liave  had  the 
satisfaction  of  being  a  leader  rather  tlian  of  being 
led.    And  every  body  would  have  respected  him 

more.    And  he  would  have  respected  himself. 

8 


114  Our  Own  Church. 

One  thing  is  never  to  be  overlooked  or  forgot- 
ten :  there  are  many  Methodist  families  who  from 
different  social  beginnings  are  indebted  to  the 
Church,  to  a  great  degree,  for  moral  and  spirit- 
ual antecedents ;  who  in  homes  of  wealth  were 
by  Methodism  saved  from  dissipation  and  deg- 
radation, and,  perhaps,  from  poverty.  Strength, 
liber,  harmony,  and  prosperity  came  through 
Methodism  into  elegant  but  exposed  and  world- 
ly homes,  and  because  of  it  the  family  remained 
in  affluence,  the  father's  honor  continued,  and 
mother  became  the  saint  she  was.  All  these  owe 
a  debt  to  their  Church.  And  it  is  a  debt  which 
can  be  paid  only  by  personal  loyalty. 

Do  I  assert  that  a  man  cannot  be  as  good  a 
Christian  in  the  Presbyterian  or  Baptist  or  Con- 
gregational Church  as  in  a  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  ?  I  do  not  put  it  in  that  way.  I  love 
and  honor  these  branches  of  the  Holy  Catholic 
Church.  I  know  and  love  many  of  their  devout 
ministers  and  members.  But  I  do  assert  that 
when  a  man  leaves  one  Church  and  joins  another 
for  "society"  reasons,  and  to  shirk  the  "shame" 
and  service  of  his  own,  leaves  the  Church  which 


True  Church  Loyalty.  115 

liis  father  and  mother  loved,  whose  doctrines 
he  cannot  deny,  and  to  whose  ministry  he  is 
indebted  for  all  the  Gospel  training  he  has — I 
say  that  this  man  commits  a  great  wrong,  sets  a 
bad  example,  and  sows  the  seeds  of  m.oral  weak- 
ness  in  his  household. 

Methodism  has  a  right  to  the  service  of  her 
own  peoj^le  whom  she  has  blessed,  and  whose 
family  sources  owe  all  their  best  things  to  her 
influence.  She  has  a  right  to  ask  their  influ- 
ence, their  personal  membership,  their  moral 
and  financial  support ;  and  if  our  people  had 
more  conscience  in  this  respect  we  should  be 
able  to  build  better  churches,  train  abler  preach- 
ers, develop  a  more  influential  and  refined  Chris- 
tian society,  do  more  good  to  the  world  at  large, 
and  set  an  example  to  our  sister  communions  of 
the  glorious  Holy  Catholic  Church. 

Let  us  be  "  just "  in  matters  denominational, 
and  be  true  to  Methodism — the  dear  old  fos- 
tering mother — who  best  represents  to-day  the 
beautiful,  apostolic,  holy,  and  divine  doctrine 
and  polity  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ. 


116  Our  Own  Chuech. 


THE    STORY    OF    MARK. 

"Forever  thine." 

MAEK  was  a  young  country  boy  who  had 
worked  on  a  farm  from  the  day  he  was 
able  to  begin  work  up  to  the  day  that  he  left 
his  old  house  for  "  Oxonian  Hall,"  where  he 
was  recorded  by  the  registrar  as  "  Eighteen  years 
old ;  a  farmer  by  profession  ;  father  dead  ;  moth- 
er living ;  a  membei*  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  ;  at  school  six  winter  terms  in  Lincoln 

Township, County, State."  There  were 

a  few  tears  on  the  broad  red  face  of  the  boy  as 
he  said  "  Good-bye  "  to  his  plain,  faithful,  affec- 
tionate old  mother,  who  put  her  arms  around  his 
neck  and  gave  him  three  kisses,  tender  and  en- 
ergetic kisses,  breaking  on  his  lips  in  the  music  of 
a  mother's  love.  There  is  no  music  in  the  world 
like  it.  She  said,  "  Be  true,  Mark,  to  your  father's 
memory  and  to  your  old  mother."  And  he  said, 
"  I  will."  There  was  a  slight  blush  on  the  big 
boy's  face  as  he  stood  before  the  registrar  and 


The  Story  of  Mark,  117 

answered  the  questions  tliat  were  put  to  him. 
His  answers  are  recorded  above.  This  is  the 
story  of  Mark's  "matriculation"  at  Oxonian  Hall. 
Mark  had  not  enjoyed  many  educational  ad- 
vantages, but  he  had  made  the  best  use  of  tliose 
that  came  in  his  w^ay.  He  had  a  good  mother, 
and  that  is  a  great  step  toward  the  highest  and 
broadest  culture.  He  had  access  to  a  few  good 
books  which  made  up  the  little  library  he  had 
inherited  from  his  father.  He  listened  as  his 
mother  read  them  aloud  when  he  was  a  little 
boy.  He  read  them  over  again  for  himself 
when  he  grew  larger.  He  consulted  them  often, 
especially  for  the  "debates-'  they  used  to  hold 
in  the  winter  schools  he  attended,  and  for  help 
in  the  "compositions"  he  had  to  write.  His 
mother  was  a  great  reader ;  took  one  good  weekly 
secular  and  one  weekly  religious  paper,  and  read 
every  word  of  both.  And  she  talked  about  all 
the  subjects  on  which  she  read.  She  talked 
w^ell.  Her  voice  w-as  good,  her  enunciation  dis- 
tinct, her  style  accurate,  her  face  bright,  and  she 
loved  the  boy  for  whom  she  read  and  talked. 
Winter  school  did  a  good  deal  for  Mark,  but 


118  Our  Own  Church. 

niother-school  all  the  year  round  did  vastly  more. 
Mothers  are  worth  more  than  school-masters. 
And  school-masters  are  worth  ten  times  more  to 
a  boy  with  a  good  mother  than  they  can  be  to 
the  other  scholars.  And  this  is  the  story  oi 
Mark's  preparation  for  matriculation  at  Oxonian 
Hall. 

In  an  institution  so  full  of  the  atmosphere  of 
true  culture,  with  men  and  women  of  learning, 
of  taste,  of  tact,  and  of  religious  influence,  as 
were  his  teachers,  Mark  sbon  became  an  enthu- 
siast in  study,  and  pushed  forward  with  a  degree 
of  application  and  success  which  afforded  his 
professors  great  satisfaction.  They  saw  the 
making  of  a  strong  man  in  the  rustic,  whose  ap- 
pearance had  not  won  him  an  immediate  social 
recognition,  but  whose  power,  slowly  developing, 
had  made  him  stanch  friends  both  among  his 
class-mates  and  in  the  faculty.  In  no  sphere  of 
life  do  earthly  ambitions  And  earlier  or  fuller 
play  than  in  the  scholastic.  The  brighter,  the 
quicker,  the  more  versatile  and  successful  the 
young  student,  the  higher  do  his  hopes  and  re- 
solves ascend.     Visions  of  achievement  and  of 


The  Story  of  Mark.  119 

renown  flash  across  his  heavens.  He  is  full  of 
confidence.  Kecitations,  discussions,  composi- 
tions quicken  his  desire  and  strengthen  his  pur- 
pose. And  here  creeps  in  the  demon  of  Selfish- 
ness, in  the  form  of  vaulting  Ambition,  the 
influence  of  which  is  as  deadening  to  all  the 
finer  instincts  and  aspirations  of  the  soul  as  is 
Covetousness  itself.  Mark  was  not  exempt  from 
the  temptations  which  every  youth  must  en- 
counter. He  had  some  fierce  conflicts,  some 
deadly  doubts,  some  unworthy  feelings  of  jeal- 
ousy as  he  measured  the  power  of  his  class-rivals, 
and  some  ambitious  schemes  which  dazzled  his 
imagination  and  weakened  his  spiritual  life. 
He  did  not  drink  beer  or  wine.  He  did  not 
smoke.  He  visited  neither  theater  nor  billiard- 
hall.  Mark  was  a  circumspect,  honorable  fellow, 
as  boys  are  weighed  in  tliese  times  by  public 
opinion.  But  angels  saw  the  struggle  going  on 
within  him,  and  he  himself  knew  how  selfish, 
worldly,  and  unchristian  were  his  most  interior 
thoughts  and  motives.  Success  therefore  gave 
him  little  pleasure.  It  seemed  to  him  as  though 
a  promising  field   of  grain  was  spread  out  in 


120  Our  Own  Church. 

fresh  verdure  under  the  sun  on  the  slope  of  the 
mountain.  But  he  who  knew  best,  and  as  casual 
observers  could  not  know,  knew  that  the  heat 
and  fissures  and  rumblings  under  ground  and  the 
occasional  puffs  of  smoke  among  the  young 
grain  were  sure  signs  of  a  force  imderneath 
which  was  hostile  to  the  coming  harvest,  and 
tliat  any  hour  it  might  burst  forth  to  wither  and 
bury  every  blade  of  wheat  that  grew  in  the  field. 
Mark  knew  that  with  such  a  heart  the  culture 
of  his  head  would  not  be  of  much  worth. 

It  was  evening.  The  students  were  gathered 
in  the  chapel  of  Oxonian  Hall  for  prayer.  They 
were  detained  a  little  later  than  usual  that  even- 
ing. There  was  a  deep  religious  feeling  in  the 
institution.  The  claims  of  God  on  the  love  and 
service  of  the  students  were  keenly  felt.  It 
came  like  a  warm  wave  over  the  school.  There 
are  such  warmings  up  of  the  physical  atmosphere 
when  ]S"ature  seems  to  take  a  leap  into  life. 
You  can  almost  see  the  leaves  and  blossoms 
come  out.  There  are  such  sweeping  currents 
in  the  spiritual  world.  They  come  with  sum- 
mer warmth  out  of  the  heavens.     I  pity  a  sem- 


The  Stoey  of  Maek.  121 

inarj  or  college  where  they  are  not  felt  and  en- 
couraged and  used.  Such  a  stirring  up  and 
warming  up  and  blossoming  out  had  come  to 
Oxonian  Hall.  After  the  students  and  faculty 
had  left  the  chapel,  and  the  last  notes  of  the 
organ  had  died  away,  Mark,  so  absorbed  in 
thought  as  to  forget  to  leave,  found  himself 
alone  in  the  dim  twilight.  How  silent  the  place  1 
How  solemn  the  hour  !  All  that  passed  through 
his  soul  then  we  cannot  record  here.  But  I 
know  that  bowing  down  alone  in  the  darkness 
he  whispered  a  deep,  strong,  soul-surrendering 
prayer.  The  whispers  now  and  then  broke  into 
groans.  The  conflict  was  fearful,  the  surrender 
was  full,  the  victory  was  perfect,  the  peace  that 
came  into  the  young  student's  soul  seemed 
to  him  like  a  miracle.  "  I  will  live  for  thee,  O 
Christ,"  he  cried.  "I  will  live  for  the  world 
thou  earnest  to  redeem.  Away,  Ambition! 
Away,  selfishness,  and  envy,  and  all  evil  desires ! 
I  do  here  and  now,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  sur- 
render myself  to  thee,  O  Father  of  heaven  and 
earth !  I  enter  into  an  everlasting  covenant  with 
thee,  and  with  all  true  souls,  to  love  and  serve 


122  Our  Own  Chukch. 

thee  and  to  prove  my  love  for  thee  by  serving 
my  fellow-man ! "  Mark  rose  from  his  knees. 
The  silence  was  profound,  and  the  sense  of  the 
divine  presence  was  overwhelming.  Through 
one  of  the  open  windows  of  the  chapel  he  caught 
sight  of  the  new  moon.  The  familiar  crescent 
with  its  silver  light  had  new  beauty  to  his  eyes 
that  night.  E"ature  receives  an  added  charm 
when  souls  who  study  it  are  brought  into  har- 
mony with  the  God  of  nature.  A  new  life  had 
been  given  to  Mark  and  a  new  career  opened 
before  him.  The  young  and  growing  moon  had 
a  meaning.  That  night  he  wrote  to  his  mother. 
After  this  wonderful  experience  Mark  moved 
steadily  forward.  He  had  work  to  do.  He  did 
it  faithfully  and  well.  He  had  seasons  of  storm 
and  doubt  and  darkness.  He  repeated  his  vow 
of  surrender,  remembered  the  Christ  of  his  sal- 
vation, read  the  word  of  God  regularly,  asso- 
ciated with  those  who  had  committed  themselves 
to  the  same  service.  Thus  he  passed  safely 
through  every  season  of  depression.  ''  I  built 
that  night  on  God,  not  on  frames  and  feelings," 
he  said.     The  religious  interest  at  Oxonian  Hall 


The  Stoky  of  Mark.  123 

was  followed  bj  miicli  discussion  among  the 
students  concerning  church  membership.  More 
than  one  student  approached  Mark  to  secure  his 
name  as  a  candidate  for  enrollment  in  this  church 
or  that.  Mark  was  decided,  and  gave  prompt 
answer :  "  My  father  and  mother  brought  me 
np  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  CUmrch."  A 
Roman  Catholic  friend  wrote  him  about  that 
Church.  A  class-mate  who  belono-ed  to  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  used  strong  argu- 
ments, as  he  supposed,  why  Mark  should  join 
that  denomination.  Other  "  branches  "  stretched 
their  boughs  over  into  Mark's  neighborliood, 
but  he  invariably  said,  "  I  was  born  into  a  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  family.  I  believe  in  my  own 
Church.  When  I  have  examined  farther  and 
fully,  and  find  that  I  cannot  conscientiously 
stay  there,  I  will  seek  another  fold.  But  now  I 
stay  with  my  own."  So  Mark  stayed  and  ex- 
amined. He  reviewed  church  history,  studied 
church  polity,  read  religious  biography,  gave 
answers  to  his  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant 
Episcopal  friends — answers  I  am  sorry  not  to 
have  space  here  to  record — and  every  day  grew 


124  Olk  Own  Chcrch. 

broader  as  a  Christian  and  more  positive  and 
earnest  as  a  Methodist.  He  wrote  to  his  mother, 
"I  love  all  branches  of  the  Christian  Church  as 
they  try  to  set  forth  Jesus  Christ  himself,  his 
doctrines,  his  ethics,  his  Spirit.  The  demand  of 
the  age  is  the  simple  teachings  and  life  of  Christ 
reproduced  every  day  in  our  several  spheres  of 
life  and  influence.  This  philosophy  makes  me  a 
Methodist.  Our  Church  seems  to  me  most  like 
the  early  Church.  I  read  the  book  of  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  and  the  epistles,  and  feel  more  at 
home  in  the  Church  I  have  chosen."  And  thus 
Mark  stood  up  for  his  own  Church  with  intelli- 
gent fidelity.  His  manliness  and  decision  gave 
much  strength  to  the  other  students.  He  said  one 
evening  in  a  "  converts'  class,"  as  it  was  called, 
"  We  should  not  separate  culture  from  religious 
life,  education  from  grace.  We  should  be  Chris- 
tian students.  We  should  bring  our  intellectual 
energies  into  the  service  of  the  Church.  Let 
us  form  a  '  League '  devoted  to  the  sanctification 
of  our  educational  opportunities,  in  the  study  of 
tlie  Holy  Scriptures,  the  study  of  church  history 
and  economics,  and  the  promotion  of  a  large, 


The  Story  of  Mark.  125 

full-orbed,  spiritual,  philanthropic,  and  church 
life." 

The  proposal  was  accepted  by  the  students, 
"  The  Oxford  League  of  Oxonian  Hall "  organ- 
ized, and  from  that  day  onward  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  gained  in  interest  and  influ- 
ence in  that  institution.  I  cannot  here  report 
all  the  discussions  and  essays,  the  committees 
and  their  work,  the  ante-communion  services, 
the  "  conference  debates,"  the  rich  biographical 
resuines  from  Methodist  history,  the  able  argu- 
ments on  "  the  extemporaneous  instead  of  the 
liturgical  form  of  worship,"  the  "itinerancy," 
the  "  class-meeting,"  and  a  score  of  denomina- 
tional topics,  which  occupied  one  evening  a  week 
in  the  chapel-  of  Oxonian  Hall.  A  young  Meth- 
odist girl  from city  said  to  a  friend,  "  I 

was  never  so  proud  of  my  own  Church  as  since 
I  have  learned  more  of  her  history,  opinions, 
and  achievements."  A  young  Congregation- 
alist  said,  "  \i  you  Methodist  people  would  let 
every  body  know  what  you  do  believe,  and  let 
your  young  folks  know,  and  what  God  has  done 
for  you  and  what  a  work  is  yet  to  be  done  by 


126  OuK  Own  Chuech. 

you,  your  power  would  be  immensely  aug- 
mented." Mark,  who  was  leader  of  the  League, 
said,  "If  we  will  only  study  God's  word  and 
give  ourselves  to  culture  for  God's  glory  and 
for  man's  good  we  need  not  care  what  any  body 
thinks  of  us.  As  for  myself,"  he  said,  "  I  have 
scientific  tastes.  I  shall  be  a  chemist.  I  shall 
try  to  be  a  good  one.  And  I  shall  find  satisfac- 
tion in  connecting  my  work  and  my  good  name, 
if  I  can  win  it,  and  my  success  with  the  Church 
I  belong  to  and  love.  As  Bishop  Simpson  once 
said,  '  I  live  to  make  my  own  Church  a  power 
in  the  land,  while  I  live  to  love  every  church 
that  loves  and  exalts  Christ.' "  So  much  for 
Mark  and  the  league.  On  another  page  I  give 
the  outline  of  Mark's  address  at  the  formal  or- 
ganization of  the  "  Oxford  League  of  Oxonian 
Hall."  Will  not  Methodist  Episcopal  students 
in  our  several  institutions  organize  similar 
leagues  ? 


THE  OXFORD  LEAGUE  OF  OXONIAN  HALL." 


The  voluntary  on  the  organ  having  ended,  a  hymn  was  sung  by  the 
congregation  that  packed  the  chapel.  It  was  the  strong,  rich,  spiritual 
hymn  beginning,  "  Arise,  my  soul,  arise."    Prayer  was  offered  by  the 

President  of  Oxonian  Hall,  who  then  introduced  Mr.  Mark as 

''  Leader  of  the  Oxford  League  of  Oxonian  Hall."  Mark  was  received 
with  cheers,  and  proceeded  to  deliver  an  address  of  which  the  following 
is  merely  an  outline : 

1.  Love  for  all  Christian  believers  in  all  branches  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  should  be  by  each  believer  genuine  and  abounding. 

2.  Love,  to  be  true,  must  never  be  disloyal  to  truth,  nor  must  it,  for 
fear  of  giving  offense,  fail  to  testify  against  error. 

3.  We  most  effectually  testify  against  error  by  boldly  and  faithfully 
proclaiming  the  whole  truth.  We  should  not  aim  to  build  up  our  own 
school  of  religious  thought  by  tearing  others  dov.-n. 

4.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  with  which  all  members  of  the 
Oxford  League  are  connected,  has  all  the  marks  of  the  original  and 
apostolic  Church. 

5.  Methodism,  therefore,  really  began  in  the  days  of  Christ  and  of 
the  apostles. 

6.  Methodism  is  not,  however,  the  only  representative  of  apostolic 
Christianity.  She  claims  to  be  one  of  the  many  branches  of  the  true 
Holy  Catholic  Church. 

7.  The  revival  of  Methodism  in  the  last  century  was  a  blessing  to  all 
branches  of  the  Church. 

8.  The  Methodism  of  the  last  century  began  in  Oxford  University, 
and  among  men  of  the  highest  culture. 

9.  True  Methodism  has  always  favored  intellectual  training. 

10.  The  great  demand  of  this  age  is  a  more  thorough  culture  in  sub- 
ordination to  a  tender,  sympathetic,  philanthropic,  and  vigorous  piety 
accompanied  by  a  present  personal  consciousness  of  harmony  with 
God. 

11.  Young  Methodist  Episcopal  students  In  our  Church  institutions 
should  seek  Christly  character  and  the  highest  human  culture,  aiming 
at  high  scholarship  in  the  various  departments  of  learning  and  using 
it  in  the  service  and  to  the  honor  of  our  owti  Church,  as  laymen,  as 
teachers,  and  as  ministers  of  the  Gospel. 

12.  These  ends  will  be  subserved  by  the  organization  of  an  Oxford 
League,  which  aims  to  secure  Christian  experience,  Bible  knowledge, 
sound  general  education  and  habits  of  practical  philanthropy.  It  aims 
also  to  promote  a  higher  appreciation  of  the  divine  origin,  history, 
organization,  usages,  advantages,  and  most  pressing  necessities  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


128  OuK  Own  Chukch. 


HARRY. 

"Ashamed  of  Jesus?" 

HAEEY  was  a  fine-looking  fellow;  a  well- 
dressed    and    handsome    fellow,   evidently 
refined  in  his  tastes,  and  certainly  agreeable  in 

manners:  a  graduate  of  H University,  and 

now  a  teacher.  It  was  easy  to  drop  into  a  con- 
versation with  him.  He  was  attractive  and, 
after  the  last  word,  left  a  pleasant  impression. 
Such  agreeable  acquaintance  a  Pullman  parlor 
car  occasionally  affords. 

Harry  talked  freely.  He  had  his  tastes  and 
opinions ;  knew  much  about  the  leading  col- 
leges of  the  day  and  their  peculiar  views  and 
policies ;  was  not  a  believer  in  the  elective 
scheme,  nor  yet  fully  satisfied  with  the  rigorous 
and  old-time  classic  regime.  He  was  '''not  a 
Methodist."  He  was  partly  Congregational  and 
partly  "  Episcopal ;"  liked  one   more  than  the 


Harry.  129 

other,  and  went  to  either  or  both  according  to 
circumstances.  He  was ''not  a  Methodist."  He 
said  that  twice. 

As  our  conversation  continued  Harry  be- 
trayed a  singular  familiarity  for  a  young  college 
man,  and  a  Congregationalist  or  "Episcopalian," 
with  Methodist  Episcopal  names  and  ways.  He 
knew  the  editors  and  the  church  papers.  He 
spoke  of  class-meetings  and  Conferences.  He  saw 
the  name  of  "Cranston  &  Stowe"  on  a  paper  we 
held,  and  remarked, 

"That  used  to  be  'Hitchcock  <fe  Walden,' 
didn't  it?" 

We  saw  that  he  was  at  home  in  the  nomen- 
clature of  Methodism,  and  asked, 

"Were  you  not  brought  up  in  a  Methodist 
Episcopal  family  ? " 

He  answered:  "Yes;  all  my  life,  until  re- 
cently. I  am  not  now  a  Methodist.  Our  whole 
family  was  Methodist  until  a  very  short  time 
ago.     But  we  left." 

We  found  out  why.     For  all  action  there  is  a 

reason.   Harry  left  Methodism  because  his  father 

did.     His  father  and  family  left  on  the  occasion 
9 


130  OuK  Own  Chukch. 

of  a  church  trouble.  We  inferred  that  the 
"  trouble"  was  the  occasion,  and  not  the  cause, 
of  the  leaving.  It  was  a  good  time  to  go.  They 
went.  We  probed  Harry  still  further  and  found 
that  he  was  quite  willing  to  go — glad  to  go. 
We  tried  to  find  out  why  he  was  glad.  We  suc- 
ceeded. Harry  ^'didn't  like  prayer-meetings  and 
revivals."  He  "didn't  like  responses  in  meeting" 
— unless  they  were  printed  in  a  book.  He  didn't 
like  '^working  on  the  emotions."  Besides,  there 
were  a  "good  many  common  people  in  the 
Church,"  and  "common  people  are  not  agreea- 
ble, you  know."  Then  Harry  smiled  a  pleasant 
smile,  and  twisted  his  light — light-weight,  light- 
shade — mustache  and  looked  out  of  the  car 
window  like  "a  high-born  fellow,  you  know." 

We  did  not  give  Harry  up,  for  he  was  a  most 
agreeable  talker,  and  seemed  to  be  in  earnest, 
and  was  willing  to  discuss  matters.  We  gave 
him  our  views  about  revivals.  We  conceded 
the  occurrence  now  and  then  of  uncomfortable 
episodes  in  religious  meetings,  where  liberty  of 
speech  and  entire  extemporaneousness  in  prayer 
are  allowed ;  where  weak  people  and  impulsive 


Harry.  131 

people  and  hysterical  people  have  a  right  to 
express  themselves ;  where  personal  joy  over 
personal  salvation  finds  a  tongue  and  is  permit- 
ted to  tell  about  the  lifting  of  burdens,  and  the 
scattering  of  clouds,  and  the  healing  of  wounds, 
and  the  banishing  of  despair,  and  the  triumph 
of  hope,  and  where  this  expression  does  some- 
times shatter  the  college  boy's  rules  of  grammar 
and  the  society  man's  canons  of  taste.  Would 
Harry  forbid  this  freedom?  Would  he  stop 
the  mouth  of  a  reformed  drunkard,  or  the  glad 
utterances  of  the  reformed  drunkard's  wife,  or 
a  song  of  victory  over  the  assurance  of  divine 
acceptance?  Allowing  the  experience  to  be 
real,  would  he  forbid  the  expression  ?  "  Cer- 
tainly not,"  but  then  he  "  liked  silence."  In  the 
cemetery  of  his  native  town  Harry  could  find — 
silence.  But  then  he  could  also  find  it,  and  for 
the  same  reason,  in  some  churches. 

The  aesthetic  element  in  Harry  was  very 
strongly  developed.  It  usually,  is  in  young 
people  of  a  certain  kind  and  degree  of  culture. 
If  they  are  society  people  this  development  is 
more  marked  and  its  influence  very  great.   They 


132  Our  Own  Church. 

don't  like  any  thing  that  is  "out  of  taste,"  or 
that  certain  frigid  and  worldly  people  pro- 
nounce to  be  "out  of  taste."  It  oifends  them. 
They  are  ashamed  to  have  any  thing  occur  in 
any  of  their  meetings  that  savors  of  emotion,  or 
that  violates  laws  of  accurate  speech,  or  that 
"nice  people"  would  laugh  at. 

Such  aesthetic  youths  w^ould  have  a  hard  time 
in  war.  It  would  be  "dreadful"  to  have  to  stay 
away  from  all  the  modern  conveniences  and  to 
be  compelled  to  live  in  such  rough  ways.  How 
"aw^f  al"  hospital  ministries  would  be !  What 
vulojar  thino-s  have  to  be  done  there !  Kitchen- 
work  is  so  much  "out  of  taste,"  and  helping 
mother  care  for  baby,  and  going  to  the  grocery, 
and  watching  by  old  auntie  dying  with  cancer ! 
What  perfectly  terrible  violations  of  taste  in  the 
days  of  Christ,  when  blind  men  called  out  to 
him,  and  mothers  crowded  forward  w4tli  their 
children  for  a  blessing,  and  lepers  praised  him, 
and  children  shouted  "  Hosanna ! "  and  people 
spread  garments  and  palm-branches  in  the  way. 
And  he — the  Christ — approved  it  all. 

We  tried  to  show  Harry  that  "taste"  is  a  very 


Hakry.  133 

selfish  and  a  very  dangerous  thing  when  carried 
too  far,  and  that  it  is  easy  to  carry  it  too  far ; 
that  reahty,  sturdy  reality,  sometimes  allows  and 
requires  things  which  weak  "propriety"  con- 
demns ;  that  true  work  for  men,  bold,  rugged, 
manly,  merciful,  divine  work  for  men,  must 
care  very  little  for  conventionalities ;  that  men 
who  save  souls,  like  men  who  save  nations,  must 
break  loose  from  such  pettiness  and  do  manful 
work  in  heroic  way.  We  told  him  that  Meth- 
odist ministers,  as  a  class,  whatever  may  be  said 
about  largeness  or  lack  of  "culture,"  w^ere  pre- 
eminently men  of  profound  earnestness  and 
plain,  bold  speech  and  sound  common  sense,  and 
that  they  were,  through  their  very  vigor  and 
loyalty  to  reality,  in  danger  of  depreciating  the 
little  conceits  and  temporary  decrees  of  sestheti- 
cism.  As  for  these  men,  they  could  not  stay  in 
a  cemetery.  If  they  did  stones  would  speak, 
graves  open,  and  the  dead  come  forth.  We 
made  Harry  ashamed  of  his  "taste"  and  "Lubin" 
and  dilettanteism,  as  he  began  to  think  of  the 
heroic  faith  and  good  sense  and  unflinching  pur. 
pose  to  do  good  and  bring  souls  into  the  eter- 


134  OuK  Own  Church. 

nal  heaven  which  characterize  the  Church  and 
ministry  he  and  liis  family  had  forsaken. 

The  "emotion"  troubled  Harry.  Well,  hyster- 
ical emotion  and  manufactured  emotion  and  un- 
controlled emotion  sometimes  trouble  us.  But 
there  is  a  true  emotion.  Liberty  cannot  be 
given  to  the  true  without  making  way  for  the 
display  of  the  false.  And  it  is  better  to  have  a 
little  wild-fire  than  to  smother  the  real  fire. 
Where  would  Harry  find  life  without  emotion : 
Among  his  college  class-mates?  On  the  base- 
ball ground  ?  At  the  boat-race  ?  At  a  cane 
rush  ?  On  the  campus  when  the  songs  began  ? 
At  the  class  supper?  Where  would  he  find 
freedom  from  emotion?  Among  school-boys? 
In  the  court- room  ?  In  a  nursery  ?  At  the 
theater?  Among  tourists  in  Switzerland?  At 
a  political  meeting?  In  Congress?  Where? 
There  is  one  place — among  the  permanent  resi- 
dents of  a  cemetery.  But  Harry  wants  emotion 
repressed  in  only  one  place — a  church  meeting, 
where,  if  anywhere  on  earth,  emotion  is  fitting 
and  necessary ;  where  those  themes  are  discussed 
which  are  more  likely  than  any  other  to  awaken 


Harky.  135 

the  noblest  and  most  efliective  emotions  of  the 
soul ;  where  there  cannot  be  thought  or  convic- 
tion without  emotion  ;  where  to  be  alive  is  to  be 
subject  to  the  plaj  of  emotion.  Harrj  wants 
the  Church  to  be  a  cemetery  with  tombs  and 
tablets  and  columns  and  art  and — silence  !  Ah  ! 
Harry,  you  don't  know  what  the  Church  is  for, 
nor  what  it  holds  in  its  heart,  nor  how  it  came 
to  be,  nor  who  reigns  over  it.  If  you  want 
silence,  broken  only  by  conventional  or  liturgic 
provision,  don't  go  back  to  Pentecost.  Don't 
try  to  bring  back  the  day  of  the  Master's  tri- 
umphal entry  into  Jerusalem.  Don't  go  to 
Methodist  meetings.  Don't  pass  the  gates  of 
the  celestial  city,  where 

"rush  of  hallelujahs 
Fills  all  the  earth  and  sky!" 

and  where 

''  'Hallelujah'  "  they  cry, 

To  the  King  of  the  sky, 
To  the  great  everlasting  I  AM; 

To  the  Lamb  that  was  slain, 

And  that  liveth  again, — 
*  Hallelujah  to  God  and  the  Lamb !  " 

As  for  the  objection  based  upon  the  presence 


136  Our  Own  Church. 

of  "the  common  people,"  Harry  did  not  press  it 
very  strongly  after  we  had  shown  our  colors  on 
the  aesthetic  question.  He  saw  it  could  not 
weigh  with  us.  We  believe  in  common  sense 
and  ruggedness  of  soul  and  thorough  work,  and 
in  the  democratic  ideas  of  Christianity.  Harry 
was  afraid  we  might  quote  texts  out  of  the 
Gospel  concerning  Jesus  Christ — such  as,  "The 
common  people  heard  him  gladly,"  and  "He  ate 
with  publicans  and  sinners."  Perhaps  Harry 
remembered  the  commission  given  by  the  Mas- 
ter, "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  every  creature."  Or  he  may  have 
recalled  the  fact  that  the  disciples  at  the  begin- 
ning were  "common  people,"  and  that  the  ma- 
jority of  the  earliest  believers  were  very  "com- 
mon people."  Or,  it  may  be,  Harry  feared  that 
we  might  reach  back  by  a  simple  question  into 
his  own  ancestry.  And  we  might  reach  back 
too  far ;  or,  not  reacliing  very  far,  might  find  a 
fact  or  two  of  an  exceedingly  plain  sort,  and 
break  a  high,  stiff  Cambridge  collar  of  the  pres- 
ent by  a  rude  grip  on  a  coUarless  shirt-band  of 
the  past.     Perhaps  Harry  talked  about  "com- 


Harry.  137 

moil  people"  with  his  peciihar  tone  when  he 
was  some  distance  from  home,  or  to  people  who 
did  not  know  him  and  his  at  home^the  home 
of  the  family  to-day  or  a  quarter  of  a  century 
back.  However  that  may  be,  Harry  did  not 
push  the  plebeian  question  any  further.  With 
his  good  sense — and  he  has  a  good  stratum  of  it 
under  the  deposit  of  taste  and  social  ambition — 
Harry  cannot  argue  against  a  church  because  it 
has  "common  people"  in  it.  That  argument 
would  have  kept  many  a  senator  out  of  the 
Capitol,  many  a  judge  out  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  many  a  President  out  of  the  White 
House,  many  a  millionaire  out  of  his  parlor, 
many  a  lady  out  of  society,  and  many  a  saint 
out  of  heaven.  But  for  the  "common  people" 
we  should  have  neither  wealth  nor  scholarship. 
The  man  who  depreciates  them  is  chargeable 
with  folly,  and  the  Church  that  neglects  them  is 
guilty  of  a  great  crime — a  crime  against  God 
and  against  the  Saviour  who  died  for  all  men, 
every- where. 


138  OuK  Own  Church. 


ETHEL. 
'•  Good  sense  is  sister  to  good  taste." 

ETHEL  SETTIQUE  had  French  blood  in  her 
veins,  and  a  strong  taste  for  the  things  which 
were  pronounced  "in  good  taste."  Yery  often 
when  there  was  no  stronger  argument  in  favor 
of  a  thing  than  that  it  was  in  "good  taste"  she 
at  least  for  a  time  approved  it,  even  when  her 
native  good  sense  opposed  it.  She  had  both 
very  strong  sense  and  a  very  higli  degree  of 
aesthetic  sensitiveness.  All  who  know  any  thing 
about  the  combination  in  one  individuality  well 
know  that  it  precipitates  many  an  interior  con- 
troversy, in  which  one  person  is  broken  into 
two ;  that  the  two  are  sure  to  fight  for  a  long 
time  over  the  problem  which  has  been  submit- 
ted to  the  Unity,  and  that  the  problem  cannot 
be  adjusted  until  there  has  been  a  prolonged 
scuffle  between  wdiat  we  may  be  allowed  to  call 
the  Duality.  Now  Ethel  Settique  was  a  Unity 
in  Duality  or  a  Duality  in  Unity. 


Ethel.  139 

If  she  was  French  she  was  neither  flippant 
nor  fickle.  We  know  the  reputation  tliat  people 
give  the  nation,  and  we  think  it  unfair.  But 
there  is  little  use  in  fighting  against  these  uni- 
versal reputations.  In  Ethel's  case  we  are  care- 
ful to  put  in  a  modifying  statement,  seeing  that 
there  was  a  trace  of  French  blood  in  the  swift, 
full  streams  that  swept  through  her  veins.  And 
she  was  a  Methodist.  She  always  said  she  was 
a  "Methodist  Episcopalian."  And  she  put  em- 
phasis on  the  "Episcopalian,"  although,  to  tell 
the  truth,  she  was  at  the  last  remove  from  the 
traditional  Episcopalian.  She  says  frankly  that 
she  is  a  "Methodist  Episcopalian,"  with  double- 
underscore-for-caps  (the  com230sitor  at  least  will 
understand  us),  because  she  is  not  any  other 
kind  of  Episcopalian.  She  believes  in  the 
Episcopal  form  of  government.  She  believes 
in  two  "orders"  only  (and  that  will  certainly 
delight  Dr.  E^eely),  and  in  the  Episcopacy  as  an 
"ofiice,"  and  as  an  office  full  of  dignity  and 
honor.  She  likes  to  point  to  her  "Bishop"  and 
show  what  power  he  has — a  power  that  he  does 
not  get  from  an  "order,"  or  from  antiquity,  but 


140  OuK  Own  Chukch. 

from  the  Clnircli  that  is,  and  from  the  work 
that  he  does,  and  from  the  manhood  under  the 
Bishop,  and  from  the  Lord  himself,  who,  as  she 
believes,  directs  in  the  selection  of  Bishops. 
She  is  a  great  enthusiast  on  the  Episcopacy — is 
Ethel  Settique. 

She  has  a  young  friend  who  is  as  much  of  a 
Protestant  Episcopalian  as  Ethel  is  an  Episcopa- 
lian of  the — right  sort.  And  they  discuss  mat- 
ters, generally  with  great  good  nature.  When 
they  do  get  warmed  up  and  talk  like — preachers, 
which,  seeing  that  they  are  only  lay  members  of 
the  Church,  they  ought  not  to  do,  they  soon  get 
reconciled  and  kiss  each  other  and  "make  up," 
and — begin  again.  They  discuss  "orders"  and 
^'succession"  and  "taste"  and,  which  is  more 
important,  the  "preaching"  or  the  "praying," 
and  all  those  subjects  that  will  come  up  when  a 
new-fashioned  Protestant  Episcopalian  and  an 
old-fashioned  Methodist  Episcopalian  get  to- 
gether. And  of  course  "the  liturgy"  comes  up, 
and  the  distinction  between  "reading  prayers" 
and  "praying."  We  are  sorry  not  to  be  able  to 
put  down  in  black  and  white  all  that  they  did 


Ethel.  141 

say  one  afternoon  when  they  had  a  "peaceful 
quarrel,"  as  Ethel  called  it,  over  the  "liturgy." 
They  really  had  all  the  old  arguments,  pro  and 
con.  It  was  a  lively  discussion.  It  was  begun 
by  Ethel's  friend,  who  indorsed  the  views  of 

Dr. ,  editor  of   the  ,  on  the  liturgy. 

She  got  the   reading  of  the through  her 

intelligent  Protestant  E23iscopal  rector,  who 
took  it  regularly  "because  it  is  so  strong  and 
bright  and  frank."  The  editor  in  the  editorial 
referred  to  says:  "The  Discipline  contemplates 
a  participation  of  the  communicants  with  the 
minister  in  the  repetition  of  the  Confession.  It 
should  always  be  done.  Here  no  objection  to  a 
liturgy  can  be  alleged.  The  effect  is  solemn 
and  impressive  to  a  high  degree.  The  writer 
tried  the  method  of  reading  it  for  several  years, 
the  people  being  silent ;  then  requested  them  to 
join  in  the  Confession,  and  the  latter  was  every 
way  to  be  preferred."  "So  you  see,"  said 
Ethel's  friend,  "that  your  people  are  gradually 
coming  around  to  a  liturgy."  It  was  at  that 
particular  moment  we  should  like  to  have  had 
Ethel's  face  painted  by  a  real  artist. 


142  OuE  Own  Chukch. 

"Coming  around  to  a  liturgy  indeed!"  and 
there  were  some  lines  of  noble  irony  drawn  in 
tlie  child's  fine  face.  "Coming  around  to  a 
liturgy !  We  have  always  had  a  liturgy.  We 
began  with  it  very  much  as  you  Protestant 
Episcopalians  have  it  now,  and  soon  grew  out  of 
its  bondage.  We  use  it  on  occasions.  We  ac- 
cept it  as  exceptional.  We  believe  in  the  idea 
of  a  form,  but  w^e  believe  more  in  freedom. 
There  is  a  certain  educating  value  in  classic 
prayers,  but  they  may  shut  the  soul  against  the 
free  play  of  spiritual  influence  by  their  very 
beauty,  and  they  may  foster  a  critical  habit  to 
such  a  degree  as  to  render  one  insensible  to  the 
sweetness  and  power  of  a  spontaneous  prayer, 
because  its  expression  is  not  according  to  classic 
standards.  No,  no,  I  know  too  much  about  the 
dwarfing  and  binding  power  of  'taste'  to  justify 
the  use  of  an  invariable  form."  Ethel  grew 
eloquent  in  her  defense  of  the  extemporaneous 
order  of  her  beloved  Church.  "But,"  said  her 
friend,  "your  Church  is  growing  more  and  more 
fond  of  forms  of  prayer."  Ethel  replied :  "The 
opposite  is  true.     In  England,  where  in  some 


Ethel.  143 

Weslejan  chapels  the  old  liturgy  according  to 
Mr.  Wesley's  custom  is  still  used,  the  people  on 
the  whole  dislike  it,  and  many  absent  themselves 
from  the  chapel  until  just  before  the  sermon,  in 
order  to  avoid  the  liturgy.  Methodists  can 
never  be  liturgists.  There  is  not  a  minister  in 
the  Church  in  America,  as  far  as  I  know,  who 
advocates  the  use  of  a  form  of  prayer  except 
on  special  occasions."  "You  do  read  Scripture 
in  concert,"  said  her  friend.  Ethel  replied, 
*'To  some  extent.  The  participative  service  in 
which  Scripture  is  read  responsively  is  in  many 
places  used  in  public  service  and  Sunday-school, 
but  nowhere  to  the  exclusion  or  reduction  of 
the  extemporaneous  prayer.  I  believe  our  nnn- 
isters  and  superintendents  would  to  a  man  give 
up  even  that  if  they  saw  any  tendency  to  a  set 
liturgy.  It  is  not  in  the  genius  of  Methodism 
to  be  liturgical,  much  less  ritualistic.  The  edi- 
tor's concession  which  you  quoted  is  not  in 
favor  of  the  liturgy,  for  I  happen  to  know  that 
the  editor  is  a  loyal  Methodist  Episcopalian,  and 
does  not  believe  in  the  use  of  a  liturgy  beyond 
the  present  provisions  of   the  Discipline.     By 


144  Our  Own  Church. 

that  he  stands.  And  so  do  I."  And  Ethel 
smiled  to  think  what  she  had  almost  compared 
herself   to  by  classing   herself  with  so  great  a 

man  as  Dr. .     But  with  all  her  ''taste,"  and 

love  of  order,  and  desire  to  increase  an  interest 
on  the  part  of  young  people  and  children  in  the 
church  service,  she  is  heartily  opposed  to  set 
forms,  liturgical  tendencies,  aud  quartette  choirs. 
She  wants  the  people  to  feel  at  home  in  all 
Methodist  Episcopal  churches,  to  sing  heartily, 
to  pray  spontaneously,  to  read  God's  word  aloud 
if  they  want  to,  and  even  in  using  the  Lord's 
Prayer  to  speak  it  out  each  for  himsQlf  without 
trying  to  keep  with  the  minister  or  w^ith  the 
other  people,  knowing  that  when  a  great  con- 
gregation is  thoroughly  interested  its  individuals 
will  by  an  irresistible  law  of  sympathy  keep 
together,  and  that  without  thinking  about  it. 
Of  course  we  do  have  Sunday-school  concert 
services,  and  employ  Christmas-trees  and  flowers 
and  banners,  which  in  a  regular  church  service 
we  might  condemn,  just  as  a  lecturer  would  tell 
funny  stories  in  an  off-hand  platform  speech 
which  he  would  never  think  of  introducing  into 


Ethel.  145 

the  sermon.  "I  believe,"  said  Ethel,  ^'that  if 
our  people  saw  the  slightest  tendency  toward 
formalism  and  ritualism  in  these  things  they 
would  give  them  all  up,  even  the  observance  of 
Christmas-day."  Ethel  is  right.  What  Meth- 
odism needs  is  spontaneity  governed  by  common 
sense,  and  by  the  ordinary  measure  of  good  taste 
which  common  sense  always  has,  and  which  it 
always  keeps  in  wise  subjection.  So  thinks  our 
little  French  friend,  Ethel  Settique.  And  the 
writer  of  these  lines  fully  agrees  with  her. 
10 


146  OuB  Own  Church. 


THE  STORY  OF  A  REVIVAL. 

"  Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  there  is  hberty." 

THERE  were  to  be  "  special  meetings  "  in  the 
Methodist    Episcopal     Church    of . 


One  might  be  tempted  to  think  that  the  reguhir 
meetings  of  that  church  were  enough  to  take  up 
the  time  and  excite  the  interest  of  the  people  in 
the  congregation  and  community  without  insti- 
tuting a  series  of  ''special"  meetings.  The 
church  had  two  "classes"  meeting  at  9  o'clock 
every  Sunday  morning;  preaching  at  10:30 
A.  M. ;  Sunday-school  at  2:30  P.  M. ;  young  peo- 
ple's prayer-meeting  at  6:30,  and  preaching  again 
at  7:30  P.  M.  On  Monday  night  there  was  an 
"  official  meeting  ; "  Tuesday  night,  three  "  class- 
meetings  ; "  Wednesday  night,  general  prayer- 
meeting  ;  Thursday  night,  two  ''  class-meetings ;" 
Eriday  night,  two  cottage  prayer-meetings  and 
young  people's  prayer-meeting ;  and  on  Saturday 
night  choir  practice.  One  may  be  excused  for 
thinking     that     the    "  regular    meetings     are 


The  Stoky  of  a  Eevival.  147 

enongli."     So  thought  and  so  said  Herbert  S. 
Topatome,  a  young  fellow  of  good  family  in  the 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of ,  in  the 

District  of  the Annual  Conference. 

Herbert  heard  the  minister  announce  the 
"special"  meetings  one  pleasant  Sunday  morn- 
ing in  May,  and,  being  of  a  mathematical  turn  of 
mind,  Herbert  at  the  dinner-table  counted  the 
services  of  the  week  in  their  church.  The  re- 
sult was  as  follows,  beginning  with  the  two 
classes  on  Sunday  morning  and  closing  with  the 
choir-meeting  on  Saturday  evening :  Two,  plus 
one,  plus  one,  plus  one,  plus  one,  equal  six  ser- 
vices for  Sabbath.  For  the  week-days  one,  plus 
three,  plus  one,  plus  two,  plus  three,  plus  one, 
equal  eleven.  Six  Sunday,  plus  eleven  Aveek- 
day  services,  equal  seventeen  church  services  a 
week.  Multij)ly  seventeen  by  fifty-two  and  the 
result  is  eight  hundred  and  eighty-four  religious 
services  in  a  year.  "  What  is  the  use,"  asked 
our  young  Methodist  Episcopal  mathematician, 
"of  special  meetings?"  Father  Topatome 
was  pleased  with  his  son's  wisdom,  and  smiled 
because  he  saw  in  it  wit  as  well  as  wisdom,  and 


148  OuK  Own  Church. 

added,  "  If  in  the  seventj-five  families  of  our 
cliurcli  there  were  family  prayer  only  once  every 
day  it  would  make  twenty-seven  thousand  and 
tliree  hundred  prayers  a  year,  in  addition  to  the 
regular  eight  hundred  and  eighty -four  services  of 
the  church  ;  making  a  total  of  twenty-eight  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  eighty-four  'regular' 
services  in  one  year."  Then  he  smiled  a  self- 
complacent  smile  at  Herbert  and  said,  "  I  don't 
t^ce,  my  son,  any  use  for  special  services."  And 
both  Herbert  aud  his  father  took  a  swallow  of 
good,  strong,  after-dinner  coffee  and  winked  at 
each  other.     It  is  so  witty  to  be  wise ! 

Hattie,  the  oldest  girl  of  the  Topatome  house- 
hold, only  thirteen  years  of  age,  was  as  bright 
as  Herbert,  as  good  a  mathematician,  and  a  bet- 
ter Methodist.  She  listened  in  the  morning 
with  solemn  attention  to  the  sermon  and  with 
gratitude  to  the  minister's  announcement  of  the 
special  services.  At  dinner  she  heard  with  a 
wounded  heart  the  heartless  and  frivolous  criti- 
cisms- and  calculations  of  Herbert  and  her  father. 
She  was  silent  for  a  few  moments,  and  as  the 
worloly-minded    pinr    laughed    at  the  "special 


The  Story  of  a  Revival.  149 

meetings,"  '^and  revivals,"  and  *' evangelists," 
she  collected  her  thoughts,  lifted  her  heart  to 
Heaven  for  a  breath  of  help,  and  then  asked 
Herbert  how  many  of  the  seventeen  regular 
services  he  had  attended  that  week.  By  her 
assistance  Herbert  counted — tioo.  "And  jou, 
father  ?  "  asked  Hattie.  After  a  bit  of  raillery 
and  evasion  he,  by  her  aid  and  yielding  to  her 
pressure,  said,  "  One — I  was  at  church  Sunday 
morning."  '^  Father,"  continued  the  ardent  and 
loyal  girl,  "  if  the  seventy-five  families  of  our 
church  had  family  prayer  just  as  often  as  we  did 
last  week,  how  many  family  prayer  services 
were  there  out  of  the  possible  five  hundred  and 
twenty -five?  And  if  last  week's  family  devo- 
tions in  our  house  be  the  standard  in  our  church 
for  the  year,  how  many  family  prayers  would 
there  be  this  year  out  of  the  estimated  twenty- 
seven  thousand  three  hundred  ? "  Now,  last 
week  there  was  no  family  prayer  in  the  TojDa- 
tome  house.  And  although  Mr.  Topatome's 
father  did  have  family  prayer' regularly,  and  al- 
though Topatome  himself  believed  in  it  and  did 
once  in  a  while — more  rarely  than  he  knew — 


150  Cue  Own  Church. 

have  Sunday  morning  family  worship,  the  whole 
company  at  the  table,  when  crowded  by  Hattie 
to  tell  when  they  had  kneeled  in  prayer  at  the 
family  altar,  were  compelled  to  acknowledge 
that  it  had  been  weeks  and  months  since  tlie 
family  Bible  had  been  brought  out  and  used  in  a 
devotional  service  of  any  kind.  Herbert  wanted 
to  "  talk  about  something  else,"  and  his  father 
thought  that  "  if  the  church  would  attend  to  its 
regular  duties  we  should  not  need  special  ser- 
vices," and  sug:gested  that  he  "must  take  a 
Sunday  afternoon  nap."  But  Hattie  was  not  to 
be  silenced,  and  as  she  inherited  no  small  meas- 
ure of  her  father's  force  she  insisted  upon  say- 
ing her  say.  And  this  is  substantially  what  she 
said  : 

"  The  church  has  regular  services.  Herbert 
and  you  say  that  in  one  week  there  are  seven- 
teen of  them,  or  eight  hundred  and  eiglitj'-four 
a  year.  In  the  seventy-five  homes  of  our  church 
there  may  be  twenty-seven  thousand  three  hun- 
dred family  prayers  a  year,  making  a  grand 
total  of  twenty-eight  thousand  one  hundred  and 
eighty-four.     That  sounds  large,  and  to  say  it, 


The  Story  of  a  Kevival.  151 

seems  wise,  and  from  the  way  Herbert  smiles 
over  it  I  think  he  considers  it  wondrous 
witty ;  but  I  consider  it  both  weak  and  wicked. 
Forgive  me,  father,  but  you  tell  me  to  be  ^  a 
true  and  simple-hearted  girl,'  and  dear  old  grand- 
father, who  always  had  family  prayer,  told  me 
before  he  died  that  'piety  was  the  best  orna- 
ment a  woman  could  w^ear,'  and  dear  dead 
mother  told  me  to  '  stand  true  to  the  Church 
and  to  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  is  its  Head  and  Life.' 
Therefore  you  must  hear  me.  Herbert,  accord- 
ing to  your  own  arithmetic,  attends  two  and 
you  one  out  of  the  possible  seventeen  services 
a  week.  And  as  to  family  prayer,  you  made  a 
sad  mistake  in  referring  to  it,  for  if  other  mem- 
bers are  like  the  Topatomes  there  is  next  to  no 
family  prayer  in  the  church.     See  where  your 

arithmetic     puts    you :      In     the church 

twenty-eight  thousand  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  possible  regular  services  a  year.  S.  Topa- 
tome  attends  fifty-two  of  them.  The  difference 
between  fifty-two  and  twenty-eight  thousand 
one  hundred  and  eighty-four  is  just  twenty- 
eight  thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-two.'' 


152  OiTR  Own  Chuech. 

Then  Aunt  Sarah,  who  is  very  amiable,  and 
as  wise  as  she  is  amiable,  said,  "  We  hold 
'special'  meetings  to  awaken  the  church  to  the 
value  of  the  ^regular  '  meetings,  and  to  promote 
regular  religious  service  in  the  church  and  the 
family.  Until  the  ^regular'  services  are  appre- 
ciated and  observed  tlie  '  special '  will  be  neces- 
sary. I  think  the  mathematical  arguments  of 
the  dinner-table  are  as  twenty-eight  thousand  one 
hundred  and  eighty-four  to  fifty-two,  or  as  five 
hundred  and  forty-one  to  one  in  favor  of  special 
meetings."  And  here  the  company  broke  up. 
But  this  was  not  the  end. 


The  special  meetings  in church  began 

according  to  the  pastor's  announcement.  An 
evangelist  who  had  both  taste  and  common 
sense  to  balance  an  earnest  heart  came  to  the 
pastor's  assistance.  There  were  special  services 
held  every  day.  A  morning  Bible  reading  and 
prayer-meeting,  an  afternoon  meeting  for  chil- 
dren and  youth,  and  an  evening  sermon,  follow- 
ed by  altar  service  or  inquiry  meeting.     For  six 


The  Story  of  a  Kevival.  153 

weeks — well  into  the  suiiiiiier — this  series  con- 
tinued. Three  meetings  were  not  held  every 
day,  but  there  were  for  the  six  weeks  many 
more  meetings  than  usual.  There  was  little  ob- 
jectionable demonstration  and  no  excessive  ex- 
citement. Sixty  persons,  some  old,  some  young, 
became  "  probationers  ; "  a  large  number  of  back- 
sliders were  reclaimed,  and  the  Church  was 
quickened.  Our  interest  centers  not  in  the 
church,  but  in  the  home  of  Herbert  and  Hattie 
and  their  father. 

Herbert's  scorn  grew  apace  with  the  increase 
of  popular  interest  in  tlie  meetings.  When  the 
general  character  of  the  services  came  under 
discussion  in  the  stores,  street-cars  and  parlors 
of  the  place,  Herbert  took  sides  in  a  most  lordly 
manner  against  tlie  "  fanaticism  of  the  evangel- 
ists," and  reported  at  table  in  an  irritating  w^ay 
wdiat  was  said  by  Mr.  Soandso  and  Mrs.  Thisor- 
that,  putting  into  their  unfavorable  remarks  ail 
the  contempt  that  could  find  escape  under  the 
shadow  of  his  callow  mustache.  At  first  he 
grieved  and  then  almost  enraged  his  sister,  who 
had  a  very  human   heart  and  a  high  sense  of 


154  Our  Own  Church. 

justice,  along  with  simplicity  of  faith  and  a  tnie 
reverence  for  holy  things.  She  held  her  peace, 
however,  and  allowed  Herbert  to  talk  and  sneer 
and  lay  upfnel  for  flame  of  repentance  later  on. 
He  said  so  much  and  recurred  to  the  subject  so 
frequently  that  his  father  one  day  remarked,  "  I 
shall  expect  to  see  you  a  ranting  saint  someday, 
my  son.     You  fight  like  Saul  of  Tarsus." 

"  What  I  hate  is  the  excitement,"  remarked 
Herbert,  one  morning  at  breakfast. 

"  What  excitement  ? "  asked  Hattie. 

"  That  revival  excitement.  I  was  in  a  while 
last  evening.  I  think  it  outrageous  to  make 
such  a  row  over  religion." 

Hattie  answered  in  her  quiet  waj^  "  I  was 
there  last  night,  but  discovered  no  excessive 
demonstration.  1  thought  the  meeting  very 
quiet  indeed." 

"I  am  sure,"  answered  Herbert,  "that  the 
preacher  was  very  much  warmed  up.  And  he 
said  some  extravagant  things." 

"  JS'one  of  which  I  can  recall,"  replied  his  sis- 
ter. "  The  sermon  was  clear,  convincing,  prac- 
tical and  strong." 


The  Stoky  of  a  Kevival.  155 

Aunt  Sarah  ventured  in  her  mild  way  to  ask 
Herbert  if  he  "  had  really  found  as  much  excite- 
ment as  he  expected  ;  "  and  his  father,  who  was 
not  a  little  impressed  by  the  sermon  of  last  even- 
ins^  and  much  hurt  at  Herbert's  unreasonable- 
ness,  added,  "And  would  you  not  have  liked  it 
a  little  better  if  there  had  been  more  noise  and 
demonstration?  AYould  you  not  have  been 
gratified  by  some  absurd  occurrence  which  you 
might  have  reported  here  this  morning?  I 
frankly  confess,"  continued  his  father,  "there 
was  nothing  to  which  I  could  possibly  take  ex- 
ception last  night.  There  was  no  noise.  There 
w^as  no  interruption  at  any  moment  of  any 
speaker  or  leader  in  prayer.  My  son,  are  you  a 
slave  to  prejudice?"  Herbert  being  in  the 
minority,  even  his  father  having  deserted  him, 
and  being  compelled  to  confess  to  himself  (never 
so  quietly)  that  he  was  a  little  prejudiced, 
dropped  the  subject  for  the  time,  and  the  family 
was  scattered  for  the  work  of  the  day. 

Herbert  S.  Topatome  was  ill  at  ease.  Under- 
neath his  gay  exterior  and  dashing  manner 
Herbert  had  a  conscience.     He  knew  the  "  let- 


156  OuB  Own  CnriiCH. 

ter"  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  had  caught 
glimpses  of  its  spiritual  meanings.  His  mother 
had  placed  her  dying  hand  on  his  head  and 
spoken  a  few  very  solemn  words  to  him,  which 
had  been  well-nigh  forgotten  in  the  whirl  of 
society  and  the  imperious  demands  of  business. 
His  father's  indifference  had  deadened  his  relig- 
ious^  sensibilities.  He  believed  theoretically  in 
religion,  but  in  rehgion  as  an  actual  factor  in 
every-day  life  he  had  no  interest.  It  was  good 
for  Sundays,  good  for  church  services,  good  for 
sick-rooms,  good  for  women,  and  good  for  fu- 
nerals, but  he  preferred  religion  in  books  and  ser- 
mons and  sacraments,  and  did  not  want  it  to  in- 
terfere with  his  fun,  occupy  his  time,  head  him 
off  from  social  indulgencies  of  every  kind,  or  in 
any  way  come  in  between  Herbert  and  Herbert's 
self -gratification.  He  sometimes  regretted  that 
his  father  was  a  Methodist.  "  I  wish  our  family 
had  been  something  else,"  he  said.  ^'  I  wish  we 
were  Episcopalians.  They  don't  care  what 
young  people  do.  But  Methodists  are  so  fear- 
fully strict  and  exacting." 

Then  came  to  him  the  picture  of  his  dying 


The  Story  of  a  Kevival.  loT 

mother ;  her  white  face  and  wonderful  smile ; 
the  tones  of  her  voice  so  remarkably  sweet  and 
clear;  the  words  of  pleading  she  uttered,  and 
then  the  last  glance  from  the  closing  eyes,  a 
sudden  smile,  a  breath,  a  silence — O,  how  long 
that  silence  !  Herbert  remembered  that  she  had 
been  a  Methodist,  liberal,  high-minded,  patient, 
refined,  self-sacrificing,  fond  of  her  own  Church, 
and  in  fullest  sympathy  with  its  spirit  and  regu- 
lations. Thus  his  mother  held  him  to  the  Church 
of  her  youth  and  age.  Mothers  do  have  tliis 
power  of  control.  It  does  not  end  when  they  fall 
asleep  and  go  into  their  graves.  Indeed,  motlier 
is  sometimes  most  eloquent  and  her  infiueuce 
most  effective  after  her  lips  are  sealed  in  death. 
It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  a  true  mother.  It 
is  a  great  thing  for  the  Church  where  mothers 
are  loyal  to  it.  These  facts  and  reflections  will 
prepare  us  to  appreciate  the  struggles  in  Her- 
bert's soul  as  he  shut  the  door  of  his  home  that 
morning  and  hurried  down  town,  to  forget,  in  the 
excitement  of  buisness,  himself  and  his  "morbid 
feelings,"  and  the  irritating  conviction  of  the 
breakfast-table. 


158  OuK  Own  Church. 

Mr.  Brand,  the  teller  in  Mr.  Topatome's  bank, 
who  had  always  sympathized  with  Herbert's  dis- 
like for  "  obtrusive,  demonstrative,  and  experi- 
mental religion,"  had  himself  been  at  the  meet- 
ing the  night  before,  and  had  '*  risen  for  prayers" 
and  had  stayed  to  the  "  after-meeting."  He  had 
been  powerfully  impressed  by  the  arguments 
and  appeals  of  the  evangelists,  and  had  taken  a 
step  which  he  had  thought  he  could  never  under 
an}?^  circumstances  take.  He  had  yielded  to  the 
inner  voice  and  openly  proclaimed  his  unrest  of 
soul,  and  had  professed  a  desire  to  come  out  be- 
fore the  world  as  a  seeker  of  the  Christ-like 
spiiit.  By  a  very  rapid  movement  of  thought 
and  will,  under  the  divine  guidance,  he  had 
come  out  of  darkness  into  light.  His  convic- 
tions were  sharp,  his  desire  genuine,  his  resolve 
prompt  and  positive,  his  faith  simple  ;  and  be- 
fore ten  o'clock  that  evening  Brand,  the  captious 
and  worldly,  full  of  doubt  and  fond  of  caviling, 
had  been  brought  into  the  clear  light  of  a  relig- 
ious experience.  He  said  to  the  minister  after 
the  meeting :  "  It  is  all  wonderful  to  me.  I 
doubted,  but  now  I  believe ;  I  scoSed,  but  now 


The  Story  of  a  Eevival.  159 

I  praise;  I  knew  in  a  general  way  the  truths  of 
the  Gospel,  but  they  never  took  hold  of  me  as 
they  have  to-night,  and  now  I  shall  live  for 
higher  objects.  I  am  through  with  doubt  and 
self-gratification.  I  am  through  with  tlie  indul- 
gences which  tlie  Church  and  the  world  both 
call  worldly,  and  I  am  determined,  by  God's 
help,  to  live  for  something  worthy  of  the  immor- 
tal soul.'^  These  were  words  of  honesty  and 
of  sharp  conviction. 

Brand  meant  what  he  said,  and  when  Her- 
bert S.  Topatome  came  into  the  bank  the  morn- 
ing after,  he  was  surprised  at  the  greeting  given 
him  by  the  teller. 

"  Are  you  crazy.  Brand  ? "  he  asked. 

"  Wild,"  said  Brand.  "  I  believe  I  could  go 
shouting  through  these  streets  this  morning." 
And  the  smile  on  his  face  quickly  told  Herbert 
that  his  old  companion  had  found  "  peace." 
Somehow  the  smile  reminded  Herbert  of  his 
mothers  smile  when  she  lay  with  the  gates  of 
heaven  opening  above  her. 

To  parry  the  stroke  which  Brand's  new 
movement    had  aimed  at  Herbert  the   young 


160  Our  Own  Church. 

fellow  asked,  ''  Are  you  beside  j^onrself, 
Brand  ?  "  He  did  not  wait  for  an  answer.  In 
his  inmost  soul  lie  coveted  the  peace  that 
Brand  liad  found  ;  but  his  nature  was  full  of 
resistance  and  pride,  and  in  that  soil  "  objections 
do  most  rankly  grow." 

Mr.  Brand  had  been  "converted."  He  had 
"  turned  over  a  new  leaf."  He  had  "  come  to 
himself"  and  returned  to  his  heavenly  Father's 
presence  and  favor.  He  had  begun  "a  new 
life."  He  was  "  going  to  be  a  Christian  and  a 
Methodist."  These  are  some  of  the  expres- 
sions on  the  tongues  of  saint  and  sinner  in  the 
community  as  the  news  of  Brand's  surrender  to 
God  was  reported.  It  was  a  remarkable  change 
in  a  good  sort  of  a  man,  who  was  well-known 
in  the  village,  and  it  was  accepted  as  proof  that 
the  ''work"  was  genuine  and  the  evangelist 
sent  of  God.  The  logic  may  not  have  been 
flawless,  but  the  :^icts  were  impressive,  and  not 
a  few  skeptics  were  struck  dumb. 

Hattie  was  happy  enough  when  the  news 
reached  her.  It  was  a  great  triumph  of  grace. 
It  was  a  vindication  of  the  "revival"  efforts 


The  Story  of  a  Revival.  161 

which  the  Church  she  loved  had  put  forth.  It 
was  a  new  agency  likely  to  help  her  in  her 
prayers  and  labors  for  Herbert.  It  turned  his 
arguments  into  ashes.  For  a  time  it  took  all 
the  scorn  out  of  his  lips  and  voice.  How  much 
one  soul  can  do !  Brand  was  a  thoughtful  aud 
well-read  man.  His  very  silence  on  religious 
subjects  had  fortified  Herbert's  growing  skepti- 
cism. His  common  sense  justified  the  young 
fellow's  contempt  for  excitement.  Herbert 
would  reason  with  himself,  "Here's  Brand. 
Nothing  of  the  kind  moves  him.  He  is  a 
scholar,  and  a  level-headed  fellow,  and  has  force 
of  character.  If  there  were  any  thing  in  relig- 
ion he  would  approve  it.  As  it  is,  he  ignores 
it,  and  sometimes  laughs  at  it."  But  now 
Brand  had  deserted  him ;  had  gone  over  to  the 
ranters  ;  had  taken  sides  with  preacher,  evangel- 
ist and  the  Church;  had  himself  gone  into 
talking  religion,  and  praying,  and  setting  good 
examples.  The  change  was  a  salutary  one  for 
Herbert.  No  wonder  that  Hattie  was  happy 
over  it ! 

"It    is    a    mere    impulse,"    said    Herbert. 
11 


162  OuK  Own  Chukch. 

"Brand  wont  hold  out.  A  few  days  from  now 
he  will  be  regretting  it.  So  it  will  be  with  the 
majority  of  the  converts."  So  spoke  Sir 
Herbert  to  "  Saint  Ilattie,"  as  he  called  her. 
"Eegret  what?"  asked  the  saint.  "Having 
made  a  fool  of  himself  in  this  public  way," 
answered  the  sage. 

"Now,  Herbert,  let  us  look  at  that  for  a 
minute,"  she  said  ;  "  let  us  see  how  iTe  has  made 
a  fool  of  himself.  AVhat  has  Brand  done  ? 
He  has  acknowledged  frankly  in  a  public  way 
and  heartily  the  following  facts : 

1.  That  there  is  a  God,  above  all,  author  of 
all,  who  has  a  right  to  the  love  and  obedience 
of  his  creatures. 

2.  That  there  is  a  life  beyond  the  grave, 
where  we  shall  continue  to  know  and  love,  and 
where  character  will  determine  what  we  do 
and  enjoy. 

3.  That  the  true  life  on  earth  is  the  life  that 
is  wisest,  most  loyal  to  duty,  most  full  of  faith 
in  God  and  practical  love  for  men. 

4.  That  the  Bible  is  God's  revelation  of 
himself,  of  his  will,  of  human  duty  and  privilege. 


The  Story  of  a  Revival.  163 

5.  That  according  to  its  teachings  every  man 
ought  to  repent  of  his  sins,  serve  God,  try  to 
live  according  to  the  standards  of  the  Book, 
and  make  his  earthly  life  a  sphere  of  prepara- 
tion for  eternal  life.  JSTow  where  is  tlie  folly 
of  faith  in  these  Rve  propositions?  I  cannot 
see  it.  Can  you?"  Herbert  did  not  confess  it 
openly,  but  really  he  could  not  see  the  folly  he 
had  charged  upon  his  friend. 

And  as  for  the  public  demonstrations  to  which 
Herbert  took  exceptions,  Hattie  reminded  him 
how  like  the  talk  of  some  of  the  old  Pharisees  in 
the  temple  his  talk  was,  and  she  drew  a  picture 
of  Herbert  trying  in  the  days  of  Christ  to  stoj) 
the  hosannas  of  the  people  when  Christ  entered 
the  city  in  triumph.  She  then  told  him  to  apply 
his  rule  on  the  base-ball  ground,  and  at  lawn 
tennis,  and  in  politics.  In  this  way  tlie  dear 
child  spoke  more  eloquently  and  effectively  than 
she  herself  knew,  and  Herbert  went  down  town 
witli  an  angered  and  somewhat  hardened  heart. 

New  victories  at  the  evening  meetings 
increased  the  power  of  the  revival  movement, 
and  correspondingly  increased  the  burden    oii 


164  Our  Own  Church. 

poor  Herbert's  soul.  Brand  was  more  cheerful 
than  ever,  and  withal  more  profoundly  ear- 
nest. The  man  was  a  changed  man.  Every 
body  saw  it.  To  no  one  was  it  more  clear  than 
to  Herbert,  who  tried  in  every  possible  way  to 
catch  the  new  convert  in  some  inconsistency  or 
to  silence  him  by  some  argument.  Brand,  under 
the  sweet  influence  of  unselfish  love,  was  not 
easily  betrayed  into  any  word  or  act  which  was 
contrary  to  love  ;  and  as  for  argument.  Brand 
was  on  the  right  side,  and  poor  Herbert's  weak 
cavils  could  not  stand  against  the  words  of 
truth  and  soberness. 

"  It  may  be,"  said  Brand,  "  that  some  of  us 
will  go  back.  Poor  human  nature  does  often 
recede  from  advanced  and  true  positions.  It 
does  this  in  every  thing  else,  why  is  it  not  pos- 
sible in  relio-ion  ?  This  is  no  ar2:ument  asrainst 
the  divinity  of  religion.  It  shows  the  weak- 
ness of  human  nature,  and  proves  that  the  free- 
dom and  responsibility  of  man  are  recognized 
in  the  Bible.  Suppose  I  do  go  back.  I  have 
had  a  taste  of  the  better  life,  and  what  I  am 
for  a  short  time  I  should  be — and  may  be — all 


The  Stoky  of  a  Revival.  165 

tlie  time.  The  brief  experience  makes  it  the 
more  likely  that  I  shall  return  to  it.  Is  it  not 
better  that  I  should  have  the  brief  experience  ? 
Is  it  not  better  for  a  man  to  be  sober  for  six 
weeks  than  never  sober  ?  Will  not  the  speci- 
men of  sober  life  be  an  incentive  to  a  return  to 
sobriety  later  on  ?  Ah,  my  young  Herbert, 
you  are  walking  in  a  dangerous  path." 

These  burning  words  did  not  subdue  the 
heart  of  Herbert.  We  wish  we  could  report 
his  turning  unto  the  Lord.  The  meetings 
closed.  Brand  went  one  way  and  Herbert 
another.  So  is  it  in  life.  So  shall  it  be  in 
eternity.  We  do  not  despair  of  Herbert.  But 
some  souls  need  severe  discipline  before  they 
surrender.  It  may  be  so  with  him.  Hattie 
must  pray  on  and  Brand  live  on  and  ministers 
preach  on  ;  and  mother's  memory  must  still  come 
into  the  poor  wanderer's  dreams.  And  some  day 
we  have  hope  that  he  will  relent  and  repent  and 
return.  But  it  is  for  us  to  do  our  work  and 
put  our  faith  in  God,  and  awaken  men  to  duty. 
God  has  his  plans.  We  have  our  appointments. 
Let  us  trust,  and  serve,  and  wait. 


APPENDIX. 


rPHE  daim  of  the  Ritualists  is,  that  there  are  three  distinct 
-^  orders  in  the  ministry,  and  tliat  the  highest,  that  of  bishops, 
is  in  direct  succession  from  the  apostles.  Methodist  Episco- 
palians claim  that  there  is  no  such  *'  apostolic  succession,"  ex- 
cept in  doctrine,  spirit,  and  life;  that  '•bishops"  and  "elders" 
(presbyters)  were,  in  the  New  Testament,  of  the  same  order: 
that  elders  (presbyters)  have  a  right  to  set  apart  of  their  own 
to  the  office  of  bishop ;  and  that  when  John  Wesley,  a  duly  or- 
dained elder  (presbyter)  of  the  Church  of  England,  assisted 
by  otiier  Church  of  England  elders,  set  apart  Thomas  Coke  as 
superintendent  {episcopos,  bishop,)  he  exercised  a  right  con- 
ferred upon  him  when  he  was  ordained  presbyter  by  John 
Potter,  Bishop  of  Oxford ;  a  riglit  for  which  precedents  abound 
in  Church  history.  One  might  fill  wliole  pages  with  testimony 
on  these  points.     I  give  here  a  few  extracts : 

Irenceus  declares  that  the  succession,  and  together  with  it 
the  episcopate  also,  had,  down  to  this  day  (latter  pare  of 
second  century),  descended  through  a  series  of  presbyters,  not 
of  bishops.  According  to  the  testimony  of  this  father — the 
best  witness  concerning  the  point  in  question — the  powers 
now  existing  in  the  ministry  of  the  Church  are  merely  presby- 
terian,  not  episcopal. 

Jerome  (in  his  note  on  Titus,  chapter  first)  says :  "  Presbyters 
and  bishops  were  formerly  the  same.  .  .  .  Let  the  bishops  know 
that  they  are  above  presbyters  rather  by  custom  than  by  the 


Appendix.  167 

divine  appointment,  and  that  the  Church  ought  to  be  ruled  in 
common." 

Augustine  says:  "Tlie  office  of  a  bishop  is  above  the  office  of 
a  priest  (not  by  the  authority  of  Scripture),  but  after  tlie 
names  of  honor  which  the  custom  of  the  Church  hath  now- 
obtained." 

The  celebrated  Laud  says :  "  I  do  not  find  any  one  of  the 
ancient  fathers  that  makes  local,  personal,  visible,  and  con- 
tinued succession  a  necessary  sign  or  mark  of  the  Church  in 
any  one  place.  .  .  .  Most  evident  it  is  that  the  succession 
which  the  fathers  meant  is  not  tied  to  place  or  person,  but  it  is 
tied  to  verity  of  doctrine.'''' 

Bishop  StilUngfleet  says :  "  The  succession  so  much  pleaded 
by  the  writers  of  the  primitive  Church  was  not  a  succession  of 
persons  in  apostolic  power,  httt  a  succession  in  o.postolic  doctrine. 
We  see  evidently  that  it  is  the  doctrine  which  they  speak  of 
as  to  succession,  and  persons  no  further  than  as  they  are  con- 
veyors of  that  doctrine." 

Bishop  Babbington  says:  "  They  are  the  true  successors  of  the 
apostles  that  succeed  in  virtue,  holiness,  truth,  etc.,  not  that 
sit  on  the  same  stool.  Faith  cometh  by  hearing,  saith  St. 
Paul  (not  by  succession),  and  hearing  cotneth  (not  by  legacy 
or  inheritance  from  bishop  to  bishop)  but  by  the  word  of 
God." 

John  Wesley  wrote,  February  25,  1785:  "Last  autumn  Dr. 
Coke  sailed  from  Eagland,  and  is  now  visiting  the  flock  in  the 
middle  provinces  of  America,  settling  them  on  the  New  Testament 
plan,  to  which  they  all  willingly  and  joyfully  conform,  being 
all  united  as  by  one  spirit  so  in  one  body." 

In  justification  of  his  action  in  tlKis  setting  apart  Dr.  Coke, 
John  "Wesley  says:  "I  firmly  believe  I  am  a  scriptural  episcopos 
as  much  as  any  man  in  England  or  Europe,  for  the  uninter- 


168  Our  Own  Church. 

rupted  succession  I  know  to  be  a  fable,  which  no  man  ever 
did  or  can  prove." 

On  January  20,  1746,  he  writes  in  his  Journal:  "  I  set  out  for 
Bristol.  On  the  road  I  read  over  Lord  King's  account  of  the 
primitive  Churcli.  In  spite  of  the  vehement  prejudice  of  my 
education,  I  was  ready  to  believe  that  this  was  a  fair  and  im- 
partial draft;  but  if  so,  it  would  follow  that  bishops  and  pres- 
byters are  (essentially)  of  one  order. 

Dr.  Edgeworih,  of  the  Church  of  England,  says :  "  The  priests 
(elders)  in  the  primitive  Church  made  bishops,  and  even  like 
as  soldiers  should  choose  one  among  themselves  to  be  their 
captain,  so  did  priests  (elders)  choose  one  of  themselves  to  be 
their  bishop  for  consideration  of  his  learning,  gravity,  and  good 
living." 

EutycMus,  a  patriarch  or  bishop  in  Egypt,  says:  "The 
twelve  presbyters  constituted  by  Mark  upon  the  vacancy  of 
the  see  chose  out  of  their  number  one  to  be  head  over  the  rest, 
and  the  eleven  laid  their  hands  on  him,  and  blest  him,  and 
made  him  patriarch." 

Dr.  Holland,  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity  at  Oxford,  says: 
"  To  affirm  the  office  of  bishop  to  be  different  from  that  of 
presbyter,  and  superior  to,  it  is  most  false — contrary  to  Script- 
ure and  the  fathers,  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  of  England 
and  the  very  schoolmen  themselves." 

Dr.  Chapin,  an  authority  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
declares  that  "  the  records  of  ordinations  in  the  English  Cliurch 
from  December  15,  1661,  to  1705,  'are  either  lost  or  destroyed.'" 
Thus  making  "an  utter  blank  in  the  records  of  ordination  for 
forty-four  years."  And  an  able  writer  in  America  justly  adds, 
after  giving  a  full  acc©unt  of  the  ordinations  of  Seabury 
and  Claggett,  "  It  is  perfectly  manifest  that  there  is  not  a 
minister    to-day   in    the    Protestant    Episcopal    Church    who 


Appendix.  169 

has  the  ordination  which  the  canon  law  of  the  Church 
demands," 

Bishop  Stillingfleet  claims  that  the  records  of  British  succes- 
sion are  destroyed.  While  Dr.  Wharton  and  Dr.  Barroiu  ac- 
knowledge the  Eoman  succession  to  be  untenable.  Says 
Bishop  Stillingfleet:  "At  Alexandria,  where  the  succession 
runs  clearest,  the  origin  of  the  power  is  imputed  to  the 
choice  of  presbyters  and  to  no  divine  institution." 

Bishop  Gi'ove  says:  "The  doctrine  of  uninterrupted  succes- 
sion is  false."  And  Dean  Cornier  "  expresses  his  doubts  as  to 
the  possibility  of  tracing  up  the  succession  with  any  certainty." 

A  Protestant  Episcopal  clergyman.  Dr.  Richard  Newton, 
writes  concerning  the  "apostoUc"  claim  of  his  own  Church  as 
it  unchurches  other  communions:  "The  man  who  can  main- 
tain it  might  as  well  stand  forth  at  noon  to-day  and  declare 
that  there  is  no  sun  in  the  firmament,  or  walk  out  under  night's 
sparkling  canopy  and  deny  that  there  are  any  stars  in  the  sky. 
And  when  this  position  is  affirmed  by  members  of  one  of  the 
smallest  Protestant  bodies  in  the  land,  there  is  a  degree  of 
arrogant  assumption  about  it  that  admits  of  no  defense.  Nay, 
more,  it  seems  to  be  a  position  that  is  justly  chargeable  in  the 
sight  of  God  with  grievous  sin.  It  approaches  very  near  to 
the  position  which  the  Pharisees  occupied  in  our  Lord's  day, 
when  he  charged  upon  them  the  sin  against  the  Holy 
Ghost." 

Archbishop  Usher,  "a  divine  who  had  read  all  the  fathers, 
whom  the  University  of  Oxford  in  convocation  styled  'the 
most  skilled  in  primitive  antiquity,  the  unanswerable  defender 
of  the  orthodox  religion,'  when  King  Charles  I.  asked  him 
at  the  Isle  of  "Wight  Vv^herever  ho  found  in  antiquity  that 
presbyters  alone  ordained  any,  replied,  '  I  can  show  your 
majesty  more,  even  where  presbyters  alone  successively  or- 


170  Our  Own  Chukch. 

dained  bishops,'  and  instanced  in  Hierome's  words  (Epistle  ad 
Evagrium)  of  the  presbyters  of  Alexandria  choosing  and  making 
their  own  bishops  from  the  dnj-s  of  Mark  till  Heraclius  and 
Dionysius."  The  s,amQ,  Ardibiahop  Usher  s\?>o  saj^s:  "A pres- 
byter hath  the  same  order  in  specie  with  the  bishop:  ergo, 
the  bishop  hath  equal  intrinsic  power  to  give  orders,  and  is 
equal  to  him  in  the  power  of  order." 

Lingard,  one  of  the  best  Englisli  historians,  says:  "Nothing 
certain  is  known  concerning  the  first  promulgation  of  the  Gos- 
pel in  Roman  Britain.  The  apostolic  establishment  by  St.  Paul 
has  not  the  slightest  historical  ground.  According  to  their 
own  authorities,  the  English  bishops  and  archbishops  have  the 
following  record:  'From  A.D.  596  to  1533  (the  date  of  Cran- 
mer's  consecration)  fourteen  archbishops  of  Canterbury  were 
consecrated  immediately  by  the  popes,  and  many  of  these 
popes  the  bloodiest  and  most  cruel  monsters  that  ever  cursed 
the  world.  From  Augustine,  the  first  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, to  Cranmer,  there  were  sixty-seven  incumbents  of  that  see. 
As  noticed  above,  fourteen  of  these  were  consecrated  immedi- 
ately by  the  popes,  three  by  cardinals  of  the  Romish  Church, 
and  all  the  rest  by  men  wlio  had  themselves  received  popish 
ordination.  Thus  the  very  line  of  bishops  through  whom  this 
succession  must  be  traced  were  themselves  ordained  by  the 
ecclesiastical  body  which  the  Church  of  England  in  her  homi- 
lies designates  'a  foul,  filthy,  old,'  etc.  .  .  .  There  was  not  an 
ordained  man  in  the  English  Church  from  Augustine  to  Cran- 
mer— for  nine  hundred  and  thirty-seven  years — who  did  not 
receive  his  ordination  direct  from  the  papacy.  Thomas  Cran- 
mer, father  of  the  Liturgy  and  Articles  of  Religion  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  from  whom  every  preacher  in  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church  has  his  ordination,  was  himself 
consecrated  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  by  the  authority  of  the 


Appendix.  171 

popes,  and  after  the  most  submissive  and  cordial  recognition 
of  the  pope's  supremacy."' 

A  trustworthy  authority  says:  "Presbyters  consecrated  pa- 
triarchs in  the  Church  of  Alexandria  for  two  centuries  after 
the  apostles.  On  this  ground,  when  English  bishops  refused 
to  ordain  liis  preachers,  John  Wesle}",  in  conjunction  with  two 
other  English  episcopally  ordained  clergymen,  consecrated  Dr. 
Coke  to  establish  the  Methodist  Church  in  this  land,  and  to 
consecrate  and  ordain  bishops  and  presbyters.  Tlie  custom  of 
the  Church  of  Alexandria  has  ample  testimony.  The  Meth- 
odist communion  can  as  rightfully  claim  an  apostolic  ministry 
as  the  Protestant;  Episcopal  Church,  unless  we  consent  to 
throw  the  Church  of  Alexandria  overboard,  the  most  learned, 
eflScient,  and  influential  of  all  the  primitive  Churches.  The  let- 
ters of  Charles  Wesley  prove  conclusively  that  his  brother  in- 
tended to  confer  episcopal  authority  in  its  usual  acceptation." 

The  same  scholarly  author  avers  that  in  the  primitive  patri- 
archal Church  of  Alexandria  down  to  the  time  of  the  Council 
of  Nice,  the  presbyters  alone  laid  hands  in  the  ordination  of 
bishops,  as  Willet,  Usher,  Stillingfleet,  Goode,  Litton,  Riddle, 
Stanley,  Harrison,  Lightfoot,  Jacob,  Mossman,  and  Garrat 
among  standard  Episcopal  writers  charge;  and  among  ancient 
authors  Jerome,  Hilary,  Eutychius,  Severus,  Elmacinus,  Ama- 
larius,  and  Morinus  testify. 

Lord  Macaulay  says :  "Even  if  it  were  possible,  which  it  assur- 
edly is  not,  to  prove  that  the  Church  had  the  apostolic  orders 
in  the  third  century,  it  would  be  impossible  to  prove  that  those 
orders  were  not  in  the  twelfth  century  so  far  lost  that  no 
ecclesiastic  could  be  certain  of  the  legitimate  descent  of  his 
own  spiritual  character.  And  if  this  were  so,  no  subsequent 
precautions  could  repair  the  evil.  .  .  .  TTe  see  no  satisfactory 
proof  of  the  fact  that  the  Church  of  England  possesses  the 


172  OuK  Own  Church. 

apostolic  succession.  .  .  .  What  evidence,  then,  have  we  for  the 
fact  of  the  apostolical  succession?  And  here  we  may  easily 
defend  the  truth  against  Oxford  with  the  same  arguments 
with  which,  in  the  old  times,  the  truth  was  defended  by  Ox- 
ford against  Rome." 

On  the  impossibility  of  tracing  this  succession  Lord  Macau- 
lay  speaks  as  follows:  "The  transmission  of  orders  from  the 
apostles  to  an  Enghsh  clergyman  of  the  present  day  must  have 
been  through  a  great  number  of  intermediate  persons.  Now 
it  is  probable  that  no  clergyman  of  the  Cliurch  of  England  can 
trace  up  his  spiritual  genealogy  from  bishop  to  bishop,  even 
so  far  back  as  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  There  remain  fif- 
teen or  sixteen  hundred  years  during  which  the  history  of  the 
transmission  is  buried  in  utter  darkness.  And  whether  he  be 
a  priest  by  succession  from  the  apostles  depends  on  the  ques- 
tion whether,  during  that  long  period,  some  thousands  of 
events  took  place,  any  one  of  which  may,  without  any  great 
improbability,  be  supposed  not  to  have  taken  place.  We  have 
not  a  little  of  evidence  to  any  one  of  these  events.  We  do  not 
even  know  the  names  of  the  countries  of  tlie  men  to  whom  it 
is  taken  for  granted  these  events  happened.  Whether  a  cler- 
gyman of  the  Church  of  England  is  really  a  successor  of  the 
apostles  depends  on  an  immense  number  of  contingencies  such 
as  these :  Wliether  under  King  Ethelwolf  a  stupid  priest  might 
not,  while  baptizing  several  scores  of  Danish  prisoners  who 
had  just  made  their  option  between  the  font  and  the  gallows, 
inadvertently  omit  to  perform  the  rite  on  one  of  these  grace- 
less proselytes?  Whether  in  the  seventh  century  an  impostor, 
who  had  never  received  consecration,  might  not  pass  himself 
off  for  a  bishop  on  some  rude  tribe  of  Scots  ?  Whether  a  lad 
of  twelve  did  really,  by  a  ceremony  huddled  over  when  he  was 
too  drunk  to  know  what  he  was  about,  confer  the  episcopal 


Appendix.  1T3 

ofiSce  on  a  lad  of  t,en  ?  It  is  as  impossible  for  a  minister  of  our 
day  10  prove  that  lie  is  in  direct  succession,  as  to  prove  that 
he  has  lineally  descended  from  Ahab  and  Jezebel.  And  if  it 
could  be  made  out,  in  the  language  of  Hooker,  '  there  may  be 
just  and  sufficient  reasons  to  allow  ordination  to  be  made  with- 
out a  bishop.'  " 

Dr.  G.  A.  Jacdb^  of  the  Church  of  England,  says:  ""What 
forms  an  absolutely  conclusive  refutation  of  this  dogma  is  the  fol- 
lowing consideration:  The  succession  of  the  Jewish  priests 
was  distinctly  laid  down  by  Divine  authority  from  the  begin- 
ning; and  reiterated  commands,  enforced  by  the  severest  judg- 
ments, emphatically  declared  that  no  one  who  was  not  of  the 
seed  of  Aaron  might  officiate  at  the  altar  of  God.  Notliing 
but  a  Divine  command  expressly  given  could  ever  make  such 
a  regulation  imperatively  exclusive.  Nothing  but  a  direct  and 
positive  ordinance  of  the  New  Testament  could  justify  the  as- 
sertion of  such  a  doctriue  now.  But  in  the  Ch-isttan  dispensa- 
tion no  such  command  was  ever  given ;  nor  is  there  in  the  New 
Testament  the  slightest  intimation,  much  less  an  authoritative  an- 
nouncement, that  such  an  apostolic  succession  is  the  only  source  of 
lawful  ministerial  authority.  The  subject,  in  fact,  is  not  once 
mentioned  or  alluded  to  in  the  Christian  Scriptures ;  nor  are  the 
apostles  ever  shown  to  have  themselves  received,  or  to  have  given  to 
others,  any  such  power  as  this  dogma  asserts  to  have  been  trans- 
mitted.^^ 


INDEX 


Apostolic  succession,  8,  20,  167-173. 

Church,  Holy  Catholic,  5-8,  12. 

Church,  Protestant  Episcopal,  10, 

Church,  Roman  Catholic,  6,  7, 

Class-meetings,  49-64. 

Culture,  116-127. 

Itinerancy,  65-76. 

Liturgy,  140-145. 

Methodism,  Antiquity  of,  13-20;  Unworldly,  21-32; 

Breadth    of,    33-48;    Earnest,   77-88;    loyalty  to 

Church,  104-115. 
Oxford  League,  125-127. 
Probation,  5. 

Revivals,  134,  135,  146-165. 
Sacrament,  89-103. 
Taste,  128-145. 


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